LIBRARY  ^ 

UNIVERSITY  OP 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  D/EGO 

v.^ 


F 


Pathfinders  of  the  West 

BEING 

THE  THRILLING  STORY  OF  THE  ADVENTURES 

OF  THE  MEN  WHO   DISCOVERED 

THE  GREAT  NORTHWEST 

RADISSON,   LA   VERENDRYE,   LEWIS 
AND    CLARK 


,{cVfc 


AUTHOR   GF   "LORDS    OF   THE   NORTH,"    "HERALDS 
OF   EMITRE,"    "STORY   OF   THE   TRAPPER" 


ILLUSTRATIONS   BY 

REMINGTON,   GOODWIN,   MARCH  AND 

AND   OTHERS 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:   MACMILLAN   &  CO.,  Ltd. 
1904 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1904, 
By  the   MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  November,  1904. 


Nortuonti  Jprrss 

.1.  S.  CuBhing  &  Co.  —  licrwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Korwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


WiLDvvooD   Place,   Wassaic,   N.Y. 
August   15,    1904. 
Dear   Mr.    Sulte  : 

A  few  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  resident  of  the  Far  West  and  tried 
to  trace  the  paths  of  early  explorers,  I  found  that  all  authorities  — 
first,  second,  and  third  rate  —  alike  referred  to  one  source  of  informa- 
tion for  their  facts.  The  name  in  the  tell-tale  footnote  was  invariably 
your  own. 

While  I  assume  all  responsibility  for  upsetting  the  apple  cart  of 
established  opinions  by  this  book,  will  you  permit  me  to  dedicate  it 
to  you  as  a  slight  token  of  esteem  to  the  greatest  living  French- 
Canadian  historian,  from  whom  we  have  all  borrowed  and  to  whom 
{<i\v  of  us  have  rendered  the  tribute  due  ? 

Faithfully, 

AGNES  C.   LAUT. 

Mr.    Benjamin  Sulte, 

President  Royal  Society, 

Ottawa,   Canada. 


THE    GREAT   NORTHWEST 

I  love  thee,  O  thou  great,  wild,  rugged  land 
Of  fenceless  field  and  snowy  mountain  height, 
Uprearing  crests  all  starry-diademed 
Above  the  silver  clouds  !      A  sea  of  light 
Swims  o'er  thy  prairies,  shimmering  to  the  sight 
A  rolling  world  of  glossy  yellow  wheat 
That  runs  before  the  wind  in  billows  bright 
As  waves  beneath  the  beat  of  unseen  feet. 
And  ripples  far  as  eye  can  see  —  as  far  and  fleet ! 

Here's  chances  for  every  man  !      The  hands  that  work 
Become  the  hands  that  rule  !      Thy  harvests  yield 
Only  to  him  who  toils  ;   and  hands  that  shirk 
Must  empty  go  !      And  here  the  hands  that  wield 
The  sceptre  work  !      O  glorious  golden  field  ! 
O  bounteous,  plenteous  land  of  poet's  dream  ! 
O'er  thy  broad  plain  the  cloudless  sun  ne'er  wheeled 
But  some  dull  heart  was  brightened  by  its  gleam 
To  seize  on  hope  and  realize  life's  highest  dream  ! 

Thy  roaring  tempests  sweep  from  out  the  north  — 
Ten  thousand  cohorts  on  the  wind's  wild  mane  — 
No  hand  can  check  thy  frost-steeds  bursting  forth 
To  gambol  madly  on  the  storm-swept  plain  ! 
Thy  hissing  snow-drifts  wreathe  their  serpent  train. 
With  stormy  laughter  shrieks  the  joy  of  might  — 
Or  lifts,  or  falls,  or  wails  upon  the  wane  — 
vii 


viii  THE    GREAT    NORTHWEST 

Thy  tempests  sweep  their  stormy  trail  of  white 

Across  the  deepening  drifts  —  and  man  must  die,  or  fight ! 

Yes,  man  must  sink  or  fight,  be  strong  or  die  ! 
That  is  thy  law,  O  great,  free,  strenuous  West ! 
The  weak  thou  wilt  make  strong  till  he  defy 
Thy  buffetings  ;   but  spacious  prairie  breast 
Will  never  nourish  weakling  as  its  guest ! 
He  must  grow  strong  or  die  !      Thou  givest  all 
An  equal  chance  —  to  work,  to  do  their  best  — 
Free  land,  free  hand  —  thy  son  must  work  or  fall 
Grow  strong  or  die  !      That  message  shrieks  the  storm-wind's 
call! 

And  so  I  love  thee,  great,  free,  rugged  land 

Of  cloudless  summer  days,  with  west-wind  croon. 

And  prairie  flowers  all  dewy-diademed. 

And  twilights  long,  with  blood-red,  low-hung  moon 

And  mountain  peaks  that  glisten  white  each  noon 

Through  purple  haze  that  veils  the  western  sky  — 

And  well  I  know  the  meadow-lark's  far  rune 

As  up  and  down  he  lilts  and  circles  high 

And  sings  sheer  joy  —  be  strong,  be  tree  ;  be  strong  or  die  ! 


Foreword 

The  question  will  at  once  occur  why  no  mention 
is  made  of  Marquette  and  Jolliet  and  La  Salle  in  a 
work  on  the  pathfinders  of  the  West.  The  simple 
answer  is  —  they  were  not  pathfinders.  Contrary  to 
the  notions  imbibed  at  school,  and  repeated  in  all  his- 
tories of  the  West,  Marquette,  Jolliet,  and  La  Salle 
did  not  discover  the  vast  region  beyond  the  Great 
Lakes.  Twelve  years  before  these  explorers  had 
thought  of  visiting  the  land  which  the  French  hunter 
designated  as  the  Pays  d' en  Haut,  the  West  had 
already  been  discovered  by  the  most  intrepid  voyageurs 
that  France  produced,  —  men  whose  wide-ranging  ex- 
plorations exceeded  the  achievements  of  Cartier  and 
Champlain  and  La  Salle  put  together. 

It  naturally  rouses  resentment  to  find  that  names 
revered  for  more  than  two  centuries  as  the  first  ex- 
plorers of  the  Great  Northwest  must  give  place  to  a 
name  almost  unknown.  It  seems  impossible  that  at 
this  late  date  history  should  have  to  be  rewritten. 
Such  is  the  fact  if  we  would  have  our  history  true. 
Not  Marquette,  Jolliet,  and  La  Salle  discovered  the 
West,  but  two  poor  adventurers,  who  sacrificed  all 
earthly   possessions  to   the   enthusiasm    for   discovery. 


X  FOREWORD 

and  incurred  such  bitter  hostility  from  the  govern- 
ments of  France  and  England  that  their  names  have 
been  hounded  to  infamy.  These  were  Sieur  Pierre 
Esprit  Radisson  and  Sieur  Medard  Chouart  Groseil- 
lers,  fur  traders  of  Three  Rivers,  Quebec.^ 

The  explanation  of  the  long  oblivion  obscuring  the 
fame  ot  these  two  men  is  very  simple,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  defied,  first  New  France,  then  Old  France, 
and  lastly  England.  While  on  friendly  terms  with 
the  church,  they  did  not  make  their  explorations  sub- 
servient to  the  propagation  of  the  faith.  In  conse- 
quence, they  were  ignored  by  both  Church  and  State. 
The  Jesuit  Relations  repeatedly  refer  to  two  young 
Frenchmen  who  went  beyond  Lake  Michigan  to  a 
"Forked  River"  (the  Mississippi),  among  the  Sioux 
and  other  Indian  tribes  that  used  coal  for  fire  because 
wood  did  not  grow  large  enough  on  the  prairie.  Con- 
temporaneous documents  mention  the  exploits  of  the 
young  Frenchmen.  The  State  Papers  of  the  Marine 
Department,  Paris,  contain  numerous  references  to 
Radisson  and  Groseillers.  But,  then,  the  Jesuit  Rela- 
tions were  not  accessible  to  scholars,  let  alone  the 
general  public,  until  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
when  a  limited  edition  was  reprinted  of  the  Cramoisy 
copies  published  at  the  time  the  priests  sent  their 
letters  home  to  France.      The  contemporaneous  writ- 

'  I  of  course  refer  to  the  West  as  Aeyon^/ the  Great  Lakes;  for  Nicolet,  in  1634, 
and  two  nameless  Frenchmen  —  servants  of  Jean  de  Lauzon  —  in  1654,  had  been 
beyond  the  Sault. 


FOREWORD  xi 

ings  of  Marie  de  I'lncarnation,  the  Abbe  Belmont,  and 
Dollier  de  Casson  were  not  known  outside  the  circle 
of  French  savants  until  still  later;  and  it  is  only 
within  recent  years  that  the  Archives  of  Paris  have 
been  searched  for  historical  data.  Meantime,  the 
historians  of  France  and  England,  animated  by  the 
hostility  of  their  respective  governments,  either  slurred 
over  the  discoveries  ot  Radisson  and  Groseillers  en- 
tirely, or  blackened  their  memories  without  the  slight- 
est regard  to  truth.  It  would,  in  fact,  take  a  large 
volume  to  contradict  and  disprove  half  the  lies  written 
of  these  two  men.  Instead  of  consulting  contempo- 
raneous documents,  —  which  would  have  entailed  both 
cost  and  labor,  —  modern  writers  have,  unfortunately, 
been  satisfied  to  serve  up  a  rehash  ot  the  detractions 
written  by  the  old  historians.  In  1885  came  a  dis- 
covery that  punished  such  slovenly  methods  by  prac- 
tically wiping  out  the  work  ot  the  pseudo-historians. 
There  was  found  in  the  British  Museum,  the  Bod- 
leian Library,  and  Hudson's  Bay  House,  London, 
unmistakably  authentic  record  of  Radisson's  voyages, 
written  by  himself.  The  Prince  Society  ot  Boston 
printed  two  hundred  and  fifty  copies  of  the  collected 
journals.  The  Canadian  Archives  published  the  jour- 
nals of  the  two  last  voyages.  Francis  Parkman  was 
too  conscientious  to  ignore  the  importance  of  the 
find;  but  his  history  of  the  West  was  already  written. 
He  made  what  reparation  he  could  to  Radisson's 
memory  by  appending  a  footnote  to  subsequent  edi- 


xli  FOREWORD 

tions  of  two  of  his  books,  stating  that  Radisson  and 
Groseillers'  travels  took  them  to  the  "Forked  River" 
before  1660.  Some  ten  other  Hnes  are  all  that  Mr. 
Parkman  relates  of  Radisson  ;  and  the  data  for  these 
brief  references  have  evidently  been  drawn  from  Rad- 
isson's  enemies,  for  the  explorer  is  called  "a  rene- 
gade." It  is  necessary  to  state  this,  because  some 
writers,  whose  zeal  for  criticism  was  much  greater 
than  their  qualifications,  wanted  to  know  why  any  one 
should  attempt  to  write  Radisson's  life  when  Parkman 
had  already  done  so. 

Radisson's  life  reads  more  like  a  second  Robinson 
Crusoe  than  sober  history.  For  that  reason  I  have 
put  the  corroborative  evidence  in  footnotes,  rather 
than  cumber  the  movement  of  the  main  theme.  I 
am  sorry  to  have  loaded  the  opening  parts  with  so 
many  notes  ;  but  Radisson's  voyages  change  the  rela- 
tive positions  of  the  other  explorers  so  radically  that 
proofs  must  be  given.  The  footnotes  are  for  the 
student  and  may  be  omitted  by  the  general  reader. 
The  study  of  Radisson  arose  from  using  his  later 
exploits  on  Hudson  Bav  as  the  subject  of  the  novel, 
Heralds  of  Empire.  On  the  publication  of  that  book, 
several  letters  came  from  the  Western  states  ask- 
ing how  tar  I  thought  Radisson  had  gone  beyond 
Lake  Superior  before  he  went  to  Hudson  Bay. 
Ha\ing  in  mind —  I  am  sorry  to  say  —  mainly  the 
earU'  records  ot  Radisson's  enemies,  I  at  first  an- 
sweri'd   that    I    thought  it  very  diflicult  to  identify  the 


FOREWORD  xHl 

discoverer's  itinerary  beyond  the  Great  Lakes.  So 
many  letters  continued  to  come  on  the  subject  that 
I  began  to  investigate  contemporaneous  documents. 
The  path  followed  by  the  explorer  west  of  the  Great 
Lakes  —  as  given  by  Radisson  himself — is  here  writ- 
ten. Full  corroboration  of  all  that  Radisson  relates 
is  to  be  found  —  as  already  stated  —  in  chronicles 
written  at  the  period  of  his  life  and  in  the  State 
Papers.  Copies  of  these  I  have  in  my  possession. 
Samples  of  the  papers  bearing  on  Radisson's  times, 
copied  from  the  Marine  Archives,  will  be  found  in 
the  Appendix.  One  must  either  accept  the  explorer's 
word  as  conclusive,  —  even  when  he  relates  his  own 
trickery,  —  or  in  rejecting  his  journal  also  reject  as 
fictions  the  Jesuit  Relations,  the  Marine  Archives, 
Dollier  de  Casson,  Marie  de  V Incarnation,  and  the 
Abbe  Belmont,  which  record  the  same  events  as  Radis- 
son. In  no  case  has  reliance  been  placed  on  second- 
hand chronicles.  Oldmixon  and  Charlevoix  must 
both  have  written  from  hearsay  ;  therefore,  though 
quoted  in  the  footnotes,  they  are  not  given  as  conclu- 
sive proof.  The  only  means  of  identifying  Radisson's 
routes  are  (i)  by  his  descriptions  of  the  countries, 
(2)  his  notes  of  the  Indian  tribes  ;  so  that  personal 
knowledge  of  the  territory  is  absolutely  essential  in 
following  Radisson's  narrative.  All  the  regions  trav- 
ersed by  Radisson  —  the  Ottawa,  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  Great  Lakes,  Labrador,  and  the  Great  Northwest 
—  I   have  visited,  some  of  them  many  times,  except 


xiv  FOREWORD 

the    shores    of   Hudson    Bay,    and    of   that    region    I 
have  some   hundreds  of  photographs. 

Material  for  the  accounts  of  the  other  pathfinders 
of  the  West  has  been  drawn  directly  from  the  dif- 
ferent explorers'  journals. 

For  historical  matter  I  wish  to  express  my  indebt- 
edness   to    Dr.   N.   E.   Dionne    of   the    Parliamentary 
Library,  Quebec,  whose  splendid  sketch  of  Radisson 
and    Groseillers,    read    before    the    Royal    Society    of 
Canada,    does    much    to    redeem    the    memory    ot    the 
discoverers  from  ignominy;   to   Dr.  George    Bryce  of 
Winnipeg,  whose  investigation  of  Hudson's   Bay  Ar- 
chives adds  a  new  chapter  to   Radisson's  life;  to   Mr. 
Benjamin  Suite  of  Ottawa,  whose  destructive  criticism 
of  inaccuracies  in   old  and   modern   records   has  done 
so  much   to  stop   people  writing  history   out  of  their 
heads  and  to  put  research  on  an  honest  basis  ;  and  to 
M.  Edouard   Richard  for  scholarly  advice  relating  to 
the  Marine  Archives,  which  he  has  exploited  so  thor- 
oughly.      For   transcripts    and    archives    now   out   ot 
print,  thanks  are  due  Mr.  L.  P.  Sylvain  of  the  Parlia- 
mentarv  Library,  Ottawa,  the  officials  of  the  Archives 
Department,  Ottawa,   Mr.   h\  C.  Wurtele  of  Ouebec, 
Professor    Andrew    Baird    of    Winnipeg,    Mr.    Alfred 
Matthews    of  the    Prince    Society,   Boston,   the    Hon. 
lacob    V.    Brower   and     Mr.    Warren    Upham    of   St. 
I\uil.        Mr.    I,awrciicc    J.    Burpee   of  Ottawa  was   so 
gootl  as   to  !i;ive  me  a  reading  of  his  exhaustive   notes 
on  La  Verendrye  and  of  data  found  on  the   Radisson 


FOREWORD  XV 

family.  To  Mrs.  Fred  Paget  of  Ottawa,  the  daughter 
of  a  Hudson's  Bay  Company  officer,  and  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  C.  C.  Farr  of  the  Northern  Ottawa,  1  am  in- 
debted for  interesting  facts  on  life  in  the  fur  posts. 
Miss  Talbot  of  Winnipeg  obtained  from  retired  officers 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  a  most  complete  set 
of  photographs  relating  to  the  fur  trade.  To  her 
and  to  those  officers  who  loaned  old  heirlooms  to  be 
photographed,  I  beg  to  express  my  cordial  apprecia- 
tion. And  the  thanks  of  all  who  write  on  the  North 
are  permanently  due  Mr.  C.  C.  Chipman,  Chief  Com- 
missioner of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  for  unfail- 
ing courtesy  in  extending  information. 

WiLDwooD   Place, 
Wassaic,   N.Y. 


Just  as  this  volume  was  going  to  the  printer,  I  received  a  copy  of  the  very  valuable 
Minnesota  Memoir,  Vol.  VI,  compiled  by  the  Hon.  J.  V.  Brower  of  St.  Paul, 
to  whom  my  thanks  are  due  for  this  excellent  contribution  to  Western  annals.  It  may 
be  said  that  the  authors  of  this  volume  have  done  more  than  any  other  writers  to  vindi- 
cate Radisson  and  Groseillers  as  explorers  of  the  West.  The  very  differences  of  opinion 
over  the  regions  visited  establish  the  fact  that  Radisson  did  explore  parts  of  Minnesota. 
I  have  purposely  avoided  trying  to  say  luhat  parts  of  Minnesota  he  exploited,  because, 
it  seems  to  me,  the  controversy  is  futile.  Radisson's  memory  has  been  the  subject  of 
controversy  from  the  time  of  his  life.  The  controversy  —  first  between  the  govern- 
ments of  France  and  England,  subsequently  between  the  French  and  English  historians 
—  has  eclipsed  the  real  achievements  of  Radisson.  To  me  it  seems  non-essential  as  to 
whether  Radisson  camped  on  an  island  in  the  Mississippi,  or  only  visited  the  region 
of  that  island.  The  fact  remains  that  he  discovered  the  Great  Northwest,  meaning  by 
that  the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  same  dispute  has  obscured  his  explorations 
of  Hudson  Bay,  French  writers  maintaining  that  he  went  overland  to  the  North 
and  put  his  feet  in  the  waters  of  the  bay,  the  English  writers  insisting  that  he  only 
crossed  over  the  watershed  toward  Hudson  Bay.      Again,  the  fact  remains  that  he  did 


xvi  FOREWORD 

what  others  had  failed  to  do  —  discovered  an  overland  route  to  the  bay.  I  am  sorry 
that  Radisson  is  accused  in  this  Memoir  of  intentionally  falsifying  his  relations  in  two 
respects;  (i)  in  adding  a  fanciful  year  to  the  1658-1660  voyage  ;  (2)  in  saying  that 
he  had  voyaged  down  the  Mississippi  to  Mexico.  (i)  Internal  evidence  plainly  shows 
that  Radisson' s  first  four  voyages  were  written  twenty  years  afterward,  when  he  was  in 
London,  and  not  while  on  the  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  with  Cartwright,  the  Boston 
commissioner.  It  is  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that  Radisson,  who  had  so 
often  been  to  the  wilds,  should  have  mixed  his  dates.  Every  slip  as  to  dates  is  so  easily 
checked  by  contemporaneous  records  —  which,  themselves,  need  to  be  checked  —  that 
it  seems  too  bad  to  accuse  Radisson  of  wilfully  lying  in  the  matter.  When  Radisson 
lied  it  was  to  avoid  bloodshed,  and  not  to  exalt  himself.  If  he  had  had  glorification  of 
self  in  mind,  he  would  not  have  set  down  his  own  faults  so  unblushingly ;  for  instance, 
where  he  deceives  M.  Colbert  of  Paris.  (2)  Radisson  does  not  try  to  give  the  impres- 
sion that  he  went  to  Mexico.  The  sense  of  the  context  is  that  he  met  an  Indian  tribe 
—  Illinois,  Mandans,  Omahas,  or  some  other  —  who  lived  next  to  another  tribe  who 
told  of  the  Spaniards.  I  feel  almost  sure  that  the  scholarly  Mr.  Benjamin  Suite  is 
right  in  his  letter  to  me  when  he  suggests  that  Radisson' s  manuscript  has  been  mixed 
by  transposition  of  pages  or  paragraphs,  rather  than  that  Radisson  himself  was  confused 
in  his  account.  At  the  same  time  every  one  of  the  contributors  to  the  Minnesota 
Memoir  deserves  the  thanks  of  all  who  love  true  history. 


ADDENDUM 

Since  the  above  foreword  was  written,  the  contents  of  this  volume  have  appeared 
serially  in  four  New  York  magazines.  The  context  of  the  book  was  slightly  abridged 
in  these  articles,  so  that  a  very  vital  distinction  —  namely,  the  difference  between  what 
is  given  as  in  dispute,  and  what  is  given  as  incontrovertible  fact  —  was  lost ;  but  what 
was  my  amusement  to  receive  letters  from  all  parts  of  the  West  all  but  challenging  me  to 
a  duel.  One  wants  to  know  "how  a  reputable  author  dare"  suggest  that  Radisson's 
voyages  be  taken  as  authentic.  There  is  no  "  dare  "  about  it.  It  is  a  fact.  For  any 
"reputable"  historian  to  suggest  —  as  two  recently  have  —  that  Radisson's  voyages  are 
a  fabrication,  is  to  stamp  that  historian  as  a  pretender  who  has  not  investigated  a  single 
record  contemporaneous  with  Radisson's  life.  One  cannot  consult  documents  contem- 
poraneous with  his  life  and  not  learn  instantly  tiiat  he  was  a  very  live  fact  of  the  most 
troublesome  kind  the  governments  of  rrance  and  Knghind  ever  had  to  accept.  That 
is  why  it  impresses  me  as  a  presumption  that  is  almost  comical  for  any  modern  writer  to 
condescend  to  say  that  he  "accepts"  or  "rejects"  this  or  that  part  of  Radisson's 
record.  If  he  "rejects"  Radisson,  he  also  rejects  the  Marine  Archi'ves  of  Paris,  and 
the  Jciuit  Relations,  which  are  tiie  recognized  sources  of  our  early  history. 


FOREWORD 


XVll 


Another  correspondent  furiously  denounces  Radisson  as  a  liar  because  he  mixes  his 
dates  of  the  1660  trip.  It  would  be  just  as  reasonable  to  call  La  Salle  a  liar  because 
there  are  discrepancies  in  the  dates  of  his  exploits,  as  to  call  Radisson  a  liar  for  the  slips 
in  his  dates.  When  the  mistakes  can  be  checked  from  internal  evidence,  one  is  hardly 
justified  in  charging  falsification. 

A  third  correspondent  is  troubled  by  the  reference  to  the  Mascoutin  Indians  being 
beyond  the  Mississippi.  State  documents  establish  this  fact.  I  am  not  responsible  for 
it ;  and  Radisson  could  not  circle  west-northwest  from  the  Mascoutins  to  the  great 
encampments  of  the  Sioux  without  going  far  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Even  if  the 
Jesuits  make  a  slip  in  referring  to  the  Sioux's  use  of  some  kind  of  coal  for  fire  because 
there  was  no  wood  on  the  prairie,  and  really  mean  turf  or  buffalo  refuse,  — •  which  1 
have  seen  the  Sioux  use  for  fire,  — the  fact  is  that  only  the  tribes  far  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi habitually  used  such  substitutes  for  wood. 

My  Wisconsin  correspondents  I  have  offended  by  saying  that  Radisson  went  beyond 
the  Wisconsin  ;  my  Minnesota  friends,  by  saying  that  he  went  beyond  Minnesota  ;  and 
my  Manitoba  co-workers  of  past  davs,  by  suggesting  that  he  ever  went  beyond  Manitoba. 
The  fact  remains  that  when  we  try  to  identify  Radisson's  voyages,  we  must  take  his 
own  account  of  his  journeyings  ;  and  that  account  establishes  him  as  the  Discoverer  of 
the  Northwest. 

For  those  who  know,  I  surely  do  not  need  to  state  that  there  is  no  picture  of 
Radisson  extant ;  and  that  some  of  the  studies  of  his  life  are  just  as  genuine  (?)  as 
alleged  old  prints  of  his  likeness. 


/ 


CONTENTS 

PART    ONE 
PIERRE    ESPRIT    RADISSON 

Adventures  of  the  First  White  Man  to  explore  the 
West,   the   Northwest,   and  the   North 

CHAPTER    I 

Radisson's    First  Voyage 

PAGE 

The  Boy  Radisson  is  captured  by  the  Iroquois  and  carried  to 
the  Mohawk  Valley  —  In  League  with  Another  Captive, 
he  slays  their  Guards  and  escapes  —  He  is  overtaken  in 
Sight  of  Home  —  Tortured  and  adopted  in  the  Tribe, 
he  visits  Orange,  where  the  Dutch  offer  to  ransom  him  — 
His  Escape      ........  3 

CHAPTER    II 

Radisson's  Second  Voyage 

Radisson  returns  to  Quebec,  where  he  joins  the  Jesuits  to  go  to 
the  Iroquois  Mission — He  witnesses  the  Massacre  of  the 
Hurons  among  the  Thousand  Islands  —  Besieged  by  the 
Iroquois,  they  pass  the  Winter  as  Prisoners  of  War  — 
Conspiracy  to  massacre  the  French  foiled  by  Radisson        .        43 


XX  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    III 
Radisson's  Third   Voyage 

PACE 

The  Discovery  of  the  Great  Northwest  —  Radisson  and  his 
Brother-in-law,  Groseillers,  visit  what  are  now  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  Dakota,  and  the  Canadian  Northwest  —  Radis- 
son's Prophecy  on  first  beholding  the  West  —  Twelve 
Years  before  Marquette  and  Jolliet,  Radisson  sees  the 
Mississippi  —  The  Terrible  Remains  of  Dollard's  Fight 
seen  on  the  Way  down  the  Ottawa  —  Why  Radisson's 
Explorations  have  been  ignored    .....        68 

CHAPTER    IV 

Radisson's   Fourth   Voyage 

The  Success  of  the  Explorers  arouses  Envy —  It  becomes  known 
that  they  have  heard  of  the  Famous  Sea  of  the  North  — 
When  they  ask  Permission  to  resume  their  Explorations, 
the  French  Governor  refuses  except  on  Condition  of 
receiving  Half  the  Profits  —  In  Defiance,  the  Explorers 
steal  off  at  Midnight  —  They  return  with  a  Fortune  and 
are  driven  from  New  France         .  .  .  .  .      loi 

CHAPTER    V 

Radisson   renounces  Allegiance  to   Two   Crowns 

Rival  Traders  thwart  the  Plans  of  the  Discoverers  —  Entangled 
in  liawsuits,  the  Two  French  Explorers  go  to  England  — 
The  Organization  of  the  Hudson's  Bav  Fur  Company  — 
Radisson  the  Storm-centre  of  International  Intrigue  —  Bos- 
ton Merchants  in  the  Struggle  to  capture  the  Fur  Trade     .       132 


CONTENTS  xxi 

CHAPTER    VI 
Radisson  gives  up  a   Career   in  the  Navy   for   the   Fur   Trade 

PAGE 

Though  opposed  by  the  Monopolists  of  Quebec,  he  secures  Ships 
for  a  Voyage  to  Hudson  Bav  —  Here  he  encounters  a 
Pirate  Ship  from  Boston  and  an  English  Ship  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bav  Company — How  he  plays  his  Cards  to  win 
against  Both  Rivals    .  .  .  ,  .  .  .150 

CHAPTER    VII 

The   Last  Voyage  of   Radisson  to  Hudson   Bay 

France  refuses  to  restore  the  Confiscated  Furs  and  Radisson  tries 
to  redeem  his  Fortune — Reengaged  by  England,  he  cap- 
tures back  Fort  Nelson,  but  comes  to  Want  in  his  Old 
Age  —  His  Character  .  .  .  .  ,  .178 

PART    TWO 

The  Search  for  the  Western  Sea,  being  an  Account  of 
THE  Discovery  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Mis- 
souri Uplands,   and  the   Valley  of  the  Saskatchewan 

CHAPTER    VIII 

The  Search   for  the  Western   Sea 

M.  de  la  Verendrye  continues  the  Exploration  ot  the  Great 
Northwest  by  establishing  a  Chain  of  Fur  Posts  across  the 
Continent  —  Privations  of  the  Explorers  and  the  Massacre 
of  Twenty  Followers  —  His  Sons  visit  the  Mandans  and 
discover  the  Rockies  —  The  Vallev  of  the  Saskatchewan  is 
next  explored,  but  Jealousy  thwarts  the  Explorer,  and  he 
dies  in  Poverty  ,  .  ,  .  .  .  .193 


xxii  CONTENTS 

PART    THREE 

Search  for  the  Northwest  Passage  leads  Samuel  Hearne 
TO  the  Arctic   Circle  and  Athabasca   Region 

CHAPTER    IX 

Samuel   Hearne 

PAGE 

The  Adventures  of  Hearne  in  his  Search  for  the  Coppermine 
River  and  Northwest  Passage  —  Hilarious  Life  of  Wassail 
led  bv  Governor  Norton  —  The  Massacre  of  the  Eskimo  by 
Hearne' s  Indians  North  ot  the  Arctic  Circle  —  Discovery 
of  the  Athabasca  Countrv  —  Hearne  becomes  Resident 
Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but  is  captured  by 
the  French  —  Death  of  Norton  and  Suicide  of  Matonabbee      241 

PART    FOUR 

First  across  the  Rockies — How  Mackenzie  crossed  the 
Northern  Rockies  and  Lewis  and  Clark  were  First 
TO  cross   from    Missouri  to   Columbia 

CHAPTER    X 
First  Across  the    Rockies 
How  Mackenzie  found  the  Great   River  named  after  him   and 
then   pushed   across   the    Mountains   to  the   Pacific,  forever 
settling  the  Question  of  a  Northwest  Passage  .  .      275 

CHAPTER    XI 

Lewis   and   Clark 
The  I-'irst  White   Men  to  ascend  the  Missouri  to  its  Sources  and 
descend  the  Columbia  to  the  Pacific  —  Exciting  Adventures 
on  the  Canons  of  the  Missouri,  the  Discovery  of  the  Great 
I'alls  and  the  Yellowstone  —  Lewis'  Escape  from  Hostiles        307 

Al'I'KNDIX  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -33  5 

Index     ..........      369 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Stealing  from  the  Fort  by  Night  ....    Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Map  of  the  Great  Fur  Country  .  .  .  Facing  i 

Three  Rivers  in  1757        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  5 

Map  of  the  Iroquois  Country  in  the  Days  of  Radisson     .  ^         14 

Albany  from  an  Old  Print  .  .  .  .  .  .32 

The  Battery,  New  York,  in  Radisson' s  Time  .  .  .        37 

Fort  Amsterdam,  from  an  ancient  engraving  executed  in  Holland        41 
One  of  the  Earliest  Maps  of  the  Great  Lakes  .  Facing        43 

Paddling  past  Hostiles        .......         50 

Jogues,  the  Jesuit  Missionary,  who  was  tortured  by  the  Mohawks        56 
Chateau  de  Ramezay,  Montreal  .  .  .  .  .61 

A  Cree  Brave,  with  the  Wampum  String       ....         70 

An  Old-time  Buffalo  Hunt  on  the  Plains  among  the  Sioux  Facing        8 1 
Father  Marquette,  from  an  old  painting  discovered  in  Montreal        83 
Voyageurs  running  the  Rapids  of  the  Ottawa  River  .  ,        95 

Montreal  in  1760    ......  Facing      loi 

Chateau  St.  Louis,  Quebec,  1669        .  .  .  .  .108 

A  Parley  on  the  Plains       .....  Facing      120 

Martello  Tower  of  Refuge  in  Time  of  Indian  Wars  —  Three 

Rivers    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .134 

Skin  for  Skin,  Coat  of  Arms  and  Motto,  Hudson's  Bay  Company      i  5  i 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  Coins,  made  of  Lead  melted  from  Tea- 
chests  at  York  Factory         .  .  .  .  .  .163 

Hudson   Bay   Dog  Trains    laden    with   Furs   arriving  at  Lower 

Fort  Garry,  Red  River       .  .  .  .  .  .187 


XXIV 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Indians  and  Hunters  spurring  to  the  Fight      .  .  Facing 

Fights    at    the    Foothills    of  the    Rockies,    between   Crows    and 

Snakes    .......  Facing 

Each  Man  landed  with  Pack  on  his  Back  and  trotted  away  over 

Portages  ..... 

A  Cree  Indian  of  the  Minnesota  Borderlands 
A  Group  of  Cree  Indians 
The  Soldiers  marched  out  from   Mount  Royal  for  the  Western 

Sea  .......  Facing 

Traders'  Boats  running  the  Rapids  of  the  Athabasca  River 

The  Ragged  Sky-line  of  the  Mountains 

Hungry  Hall,   1870 

A  Monarch  of  the  Plains 

Fur  Traders  towed  down  the  Saskatchewan  in  the  Summer  of 

1900      ..... 
Tepees  dotted  the  Vallev  . 
An  Eskimo  Belle      .... 
Samuel  Hearne         .... 
Eskimo  using  Double-bladed  Paddle 
Eskimo  Family,  taken  by  Light  of  Midnight  Sun    .  Facing 

Fort  Garrv,  Winnipeg,  a  Century  Ago 
Plan  of  Fort   Prince  of  Wales,  from    Robson's  drawing,   1733 

1747 

Fort  Prince  of  Wales 

Beaver  Coin  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 

Alexander  Mackenzie 

Eskimo  trading  his    Pipe,   carved    from   Walrus    Tusk,    for    th 

Value  of  Three  Beaver  Skins 
Ouill  and  Bcadwork  on  Buckskin 
Fort  William,  Headquarters  Northwest  Company,  Lake  Superior 
Running  a  Rapid  on  Mackenzie  River  .  .  Facing 

Slave  Lake  Indians  .... 
Good  Hope,  Mackenzie  River,  Hudson's  Bay  Company  Fort 


PAGE 
194 

196 

199 

200 

207 

2  I  2 
217 
220 
223 
228 

23  I 
236 
242 
248 
250 
258 
262 

266 

270 
271 
276 

278 
281 
283 
286 
290 
301 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


XXV 


The  Mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  by  the  Light  of  the  Midnight  Sun 

Captain  Meriwether  Lewis 

Captain  William  Clark 

Tracking  up  Stream 

Typical  Mountain  Trapper 

The  Discovery  of  the  Great  F'alls 

Fighting  a  Grizzlv    . 

Packer  carrying  Goods  across  Portage 

Spying  on  Enemy's  Fort   . 

Indian  Camp  at  Foothills  of  Rockies 

On  Guard       .... 

Indians  of  the  Up-country  or  Pays  d'en  Haut 


PAGE 

;ht  Sun 

306 

309 

310 

3H 

3.6 

Facing 

317 

Facing 

3'9 

320 

322 

324 

Facing 

328 

• 

330 

PART    I 
PIERRE    ESPRIT    RADISSON 

ADVENTURES  OF  THE  FIRST  WHITE  MAN  TO 
EXPLORE  THE  WEST,  THE  NORTHWEST,  AND 
THE    NORTH 


Pathfinders  of  the  West 

CHAPTER    I 

1651-1653 

RADISSON'S    FIRST   VOYAGE 

The  Boy  Radisson  is  captured  by  the  Iroquois  and  carried  to  the 
Mohawk  Valley  — ■  In  League  with  Another  Captive,  he  slays  their 
Guards  and  escapes  —  He  is  overtaken  in  Sight  of  Home  — 
Tortured  and  adopted  in  the  Tribe,  he  visits  Orange,  where  the 
Dutch  offer  to  ransom  him  —  His  Escape 

Early  one  morning  in  the  spring  of  1652  three 
young  men  left  the  Httle  stockaded  fort  of  Three 
Rivers,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  for  a 
day's  hunting  in  the  marshes  of  Lake  St.  Peter.  On 
one  side  were  the  forested  hills,  purple  with  the  mists 
of  rising  vapor  and  still  streaked  with  white  patches  of 
snow  where  the  dense  woods  shut  out  the  sunlight. 
On  the  other  lay  the  silver  expanse  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, more  like  a  lake  than  a  river,  with  mile  on  mile 
southwestward  of  rush-grown  marshes,  where  plover 
and  curlew  and  duck  and  wild  geese  flocked  to  their 
favorite  feeding-grounds  three  hundred   years  ago  just 

3 


4         PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

as  they  do  to-day.  Northeastward,  the  three  mouths 
of  the  St.  Maurice  poured  their  spring  flood  into  the 
St.  Lawrence. 

The  hunters  were  very  young.  Only  hunters  rash 
with  the  courage  of  untried  youth  would  have  left  the 
shelter  of  the  fort  walls  when  all  the  world  knew  that 
the  Iroquois  had  been  lying  in  ambush  round  the  little 
settlement  of  Three  Rivers  day  and  night  for  the  pre- 
ceding year.  Not  a  week  passed  but  some  settler 
working  on  the  outskirts  of  Three  Rivers  was  set 
upon  and  left  dead  in  his  fields  by  marauding  Iroquois. 
The  tortures  suffered  by  Jogues,  the  great  Jesuit 
missionary  who  had  been  captured  by  the  Iroquois  a 
few  years  before,  were  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  New  France.  It  was 
from  Three  Rivers  that  Piescaret,  the  famous  Algon- 
quin chief  who  could  outrun  a  deer,  had  set  out  against 
the  Iroquois,  turning  his  snowshoes  back  to  front,  so 
that  the  track  seemed  to  lead  north  when  he  was  really 
going  south,  and  then,  having  thrown  his  pursuers  off 
the  trail,  coming  back  on  his  own  footsteps,  slipping 
up  stealthily  on  the  Iroquois  that  were  following  the 
false  scent,  and  tomahawking  the  laggards.^  It  was 
from  Three  Rivers  that  the  Mohawks  had  captured 
the  Algonquin  girl  who  escaped  by  slipping  off  the 
thongs  that  bound  her.      Stepping  over  the  prostrate 

1  Bciijaniiii  Suite  ill  Chroiiiyui'   Trijlu'vieiine, 


RADISSON'S    FIRSr    VOYAGE  5 

forms  of  her  sleeping  guards,  such  a  fury  of  revenge 
possessed  her  that  she  seized  an  axe  and  brained  the 
nearest  sleeper,  then  eluded  her  pursuers  by  first  hiding 
in  a  hollow  tree  and  afterward  diving  under  the  debris 
of  a  beaver  dam. 

These    things   were   known   to  every   inhabitant   of 
Three    Rivers.      Farmers   had    flocked    into    the    little 


Three  Rivers  in    1757. 

fort  and  could  venture  back  to  their  fields  only  when 
armed  with  a  musket.'  Yet  the  three  young  hunters 
rashly  left  the  shelter  of  the  fort  walls  and  took  the 

^  It  was  in  August  of  this  same  year,  1652,  that  the  governor  of  Three  Rivers 
was  slain  by  the  Iroquois.  Parkman  gives  this  date,  1653  ;  Garneau,  1651  ;  L'Abbe 
Tanguay,  1651;  Dollier  de  Casson,  16515  Belmont,  i65'5.  Suite  gives  the  name 
of  the  governor  Duplessis-Kerbodot,  not  Bochart,  as  given  in  Parkman. 


6  PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 

very  dangerous  path  that  led  between  the  forests  and 
the  water.  One  of  the  young  men  was  barely  in  his 
seventeenth  year.^  This  was  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson, 
from  St.  Malo,  the  town  of  the  famous  Cartier. 
Young  Radisson  had  only  come  to  New  France  the 
year  before,  and  therefore  could  not  realize  the  dangers 
of  Indian  warfare.  Like  boys  the  world  over,  the 
three  went  along,  boasting  how  they  would  fight  if  the 
Indians  came.  One  skirted  the  forest,  on  the  watch 
for  Iroquois,  the  others  kept  to  the  water,  on  the  look- 
out for  game.  About  a  mile  from  Three  Rivers 
they  encountered  a  herdsman  who  warned  them  to 
keep  out  from  the  foot  of  the  hills.  Things  that 
looked  like  a  multitude  of  heads  had  risen  out  of  the 
earth  back  there,  he  said,  pointing  to  the  forests. 
That  set  the  young  hunters  loading  their  pistols  and 
priming  muskets.  It  must  also  have  chilled  their 
zest;  for,  shooting  some  ducks,  one  of  the  young  men 
presently  declared  that  he  had  had  enough  —  he  was 
going  back.  With  that  daring  which  was  to  prove 
both    the    lodestar    and   the   curse    of   his   life,   young 

'  Dr.  Bryce  has  unearthed  the  fact  that  in  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons, 
I  6<;8,  Radisson  sets  down  his  age  as  sixty-two.  This  gives  the  year  of  his  birth  as  1636. 
On  the  other  hand,  Suite  has  record  of  a  Pierre  Radisson  registered  at  Quebec  in  1681, 
aged  fifty-one,  which  would  make  him  slightly  older,  if  it  is  the  same  Radisson.  Mr. 
Suite's  explanation  is  as  follows  :  Sebastien  Hayet  of  St.  Malo  married  Madeline  He- 
nault.  Their  daughter  Marguerite  married  Chouart,  known  as  Groseillers.  Madeline 
Hrnault  then  married  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson  of  Paris,  whose  children  were  Pierre,  our 
hern,  .Hid  two  daughters. 


RADISSON'S   FIRST   VOYAGE  7 

Radisson  laughed  to  scorn  the  sudden  change  of  mind. 
Thereupon  the  first  hunter  was  joined  by  the  second, 
and  the  two  went  off  in  high  dudgeon.  With  a  laugh, 
Pierre  Radisson  marched  along  alone,  foreshadowing 
his  after  life,  —  a  type  of  every  pathfinder  facing  the 
dangers  of  the  unknown  with  dauntless  scorn,  an  im- 
mortal type  of  the  world-hero. 

Shooting  at  every  pace  and  hilarious  over  his  luck, 
Radisson  had  wandered  some  nine  miles  from  the  fort, 
when  he  came  to  a  stream  too  deep  to  ford  and  real- 
ized that  he  already  had  more  game  than  he  could  pos- 
sibly carry.  Hiding  in  hollow  trees  what  he  could  not 
bring  back,  he  began  trudging  toward  Three  Rivers  with 
a  string  of  geese,  ducks,  and  odd  teal  over  his  shoulders. 
Wading  swollen  brooks  and  scrambling  over  windfalls, 
he  retraced  his  way  without  pause  till  he  caught  sight 
of  the  town  chapel  glimmering  in  the  sunlight  against 
the  darkening  horizon  above  the  river.  He  was  almost 
back  where  his  comrades  had  lett  him ;  so  he  sat  down  to 
rest.  The  cowherd  had  driven  his  cattle  back  to  Three 
Rivers.^  The  river  came  lapping  through  the  rushes. 
There  was  a  clacking  of  wild-fowl   flocking  down   to 

1  A  despatch  from  M.  Talon  in  l656  shows  there  were  461  families  in  Three 
Rivers.  State  papers  from  the  Minister  to  M.  Frontenac  in  1 6  74  show  there  were 
only  6705  French  in  all  the  colony.  Averaging  five  a  family,  there  must  have  been 
2000  people  at  Three  Rivers.  Fear  of  the  Iroquois  must  ha\e  driven  tiie  country 
people  inside  the  fort,  so  that  the  population  enrolled  was  larger  than  the  real  population 
of  Three  Rivers.  Suite  gives  the  normal  population  of  Three  Rivers  in  1654  as 
38  married  couples,  13  bachelors,  38  boys,  26  girls  —  in  all  not  200. 


8  PATHFINDERS  OF  THE   WEST 

their  marsh  nests ;  perhaps  a  crane  flopped  through 
the  reeds ;  but  Radisson,  who  had  laughed  the  ner- 
vous fears  of  the  others  to  scorn,  suddenly  gave  a 
start  at  the  lonely  sounds  of  twilight.  Then  he 
noticed  that  his  pistols  were  water-soaked.  Empty- 
ing the  charges,  he  at  once  reloaded,  and  with  char- 
acteristic daring  crept  softly  back  to  reconnoitre  the 
woods.  Dodging  from  tree  to  tree,  he  peered  up 
and  down  the  river.  Great  flocks  of  ducks  were 
swimming  on  the  water.  That  reassured  him,  for 
the  bird  is  more  alert  to  alarm  than  man.  The  fort 
was  almost  within  call.  Radisson  determined  to  have 
a  shot  at  such  easy  quarry  ;  but  as  he  crept  through 
the  grass  toward  the  game,  he  almost  stumbled  over 
what  rooted  him  to  the  spot  with  horror.  Just  as 
they  had  fallen,  naked  and  scalped,  with  bullet  and 
hatchet  wounds  all  over  their  bodies,  lay  his  comrades 
of  the  morning,  dead  among  the  rushes.  Raciisson 
was  too  far  out  to  get  back  to  the  woods.  Stooping, 
he  tried  to  grope  to  the  hiding  of  the  rushes.  As 
he  bent,  half  a  hundred  heads  rose  from  the  grasses, 
peering  which  way  he  might  go.  They  were  behind, 
before,  on  all  sides — his  only  hope  was  a  dash  for 
the  cane-grown  river,  where  he  might  hide  by  diving 
and  wading,  till  darkness  gave  a  chance  for  a  rush  to 
the  tort.  Slipping  bullet  and  shot  in  his  musket  as 
he  ran,  and  ramming  down  the  paper,  hoping  against 


RADISSON'S   FIRST   VOYAGE  9 

hope  that  he  had  not  been  seen,  he  dashed  through 
the  brushwood.  A  score  of  guns  crashed  from  the 
forest/  Before  he  reahzed  the  penalty  that  the  Iro- 
quois might  exact  for  such  an  act,  he  had  fired  back  ; 
but  they  were  upon  him.  He  was  thrown  down  and 
disarmed.  When  he  came  giddily  to  his  senses,  he 
found  himself  being  dragged  back  to  the  woods,  where 
the  Iroquois  flaunted  the  fresh  scalps  of  his  dead 
friends.  Half  drawn,  half  driven,  he  was  taken  to  the 
shore.  Here,  a  flotilla  of  canoes  lay  concealed  where 
he  had  been  hunting  wild-fowl  but  a  few  hours  before. 
Fires  were  kindled,  and  the  crotched  sticks  driven  in 
the  ground  to  boil  the  kettle  for  the  evening  meal. 
The  young  Frenchman  was  searched,  stripped,  and 
tied  round  the  waist  with  a  rope,  the  Indians  yelling 
and  howling  like  so  many  wolves  all  the  while  till 
a  pause  was  given  their  jubilation  by  the  alarm  of  a 
scout  that  the  French  and  Algonquins  were  coming. 
In  a  trice,  the  fire  was  out  and  covered.  A  score  of 
young  braves  set  off  to  reconnoitre.  Fifty  remained 
at  the  boats ;  but  if  Radisson  hoped  for  a  rescue, 
he  was  doomed  to  disappointment.  The  warriors 
returned.  Seventy  Iroquois  gathered  round  a  sec- 
ond fire  for  the  night.     The  one  predominating  pas- 


^  At  first  flush,  this  seems  a  slip  in  Radisson  s  Relation.  Where  did  the  Mohawks 
get  their  guns?  Neiv  York  Colonial  Documents  show  that  between  1640  and  1650 
the  Dutch  at  Fort  Orange  had  supplied  the  Mohawks  alone  with  four  hundred  guns. 


lo        PATHFINDERS   OF  THE  WEST 

sion  of  the  savage  nature  is  bravery.  Lying  in 
ambush,  they  had  heard  this  French  youth  laugh 
at  his  comrades'  fears.  In  defiance  of  danger,  they 
had  seen  him  go  hunting  alone.  After  he  had  heard 
an  alarm,  he  had  daringly  come  out  to  shoot  at  the 
ducks.  And,  then,  boy  as  he  was,  when  attacked 
he  had  instantly  fired  back  at  numerous  enough 
enemies  to  have  intimidated  a  score  of  grown  men. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  it  was  Radisson's 
bravery  that  now  saved  him  from  the  fate  of  his 
companions. 

His  clothes  were  returned.  While  the  evening  meal 
was  boiling,  young  warriors  dressed  and  combed  the 
Frenchman's  hair  after  the  manner  of  braves.  They 
daubed  his  cheeks  with  war-paint ;  and  when  they 
saw  that  their  rancid  meats  turned  him  faint,  they 
boiled  meat  in  clean  water  and  gave  him  meal 
browned  on  burning  sand.^  He  did  not  struggle 
to  escape,  so  he  was  now  untied.  That  night  he 
slept  between  two  warriors  under  a  common  blanket, 
through  which  he  counted  the  stars.  For  fifty  years 
his  home  was  to  be  under  the  stars.  It  is  typically 
Radisson    when    he    could    add  :     "  I    slept    a    sound 


1  One  of  many  instances  of  Radisson's  accuracy  in  detail.  All  tribes  have  a 
trick  of  browning  food  on  hot  stones  or  sand  that  has  been  taken  from  fire.  The 
Assiniboines  gained  their  name  from  this  practice:  they  were  the  users  of  "boiling 
stones." 


RADISSON'S   FIRST   VOYAGE  ii 

sleep ;  for  they  wakened  me  upon  the  breaking  of 
the  day."  In  the  morning  they  embarked  in  thirty- 
seven  canoes,  two  Indians  in  each  boat,  with  Radisson 
tied  to  the  cross-bar  of  one,  the  scalps  lying  at  his  feet. 
Spreading  out  on  the  river,  they  beat  their  paddles  on 
the  gunwales  of  the  canoes,  shot  off  guns,  and  uttered 
the  shrill  war-cry  —  "  Ah-oh  !  Ah-oh  !  Ah-oh  !  "  ^ 
Lest  this  were  not  sufficient  defiance  to  the  penned-up 
fort  on  the  river  bank,  the  chief  stood  up  in  his  canoe, 
signalled  silence,  and  gave  three  shouts.  At  once  the 
whole  company  answered  till  the  hills  rang;  and  out 
swung  the  fleet  of  canoes  with  more  shouting  and 
singing  and  firing  of  guns,  each  paddle-stroke  sound- 
ing the  death  knell  to  the  young  Frenchman's  hopes. 
By  sunset  they  were  among  the  islands  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Richelieu,  where  muskrats  scuttled 
through  the  rushes  and  wild-fowl  clouded  the  air. 
The  south  shore  of  Lake  St.  Peter  was  heavily 
forested ;  the  north,  shallow.  The  lake  was  flooded 
with  spring  thaw,  and  the  Mohawks  could  scarcely 
find  camping-ground  among  the  islands.  The  young 
prisoner  was  deathly  sick  from  the  rank  food  that  he 

^  I  have  asked  both  natives  and  old  fur-traders  what  combination  of  sounds  in 
English  most  closely  resembles  the  Indian  war-cry,  and  they  have  all  given  the  words 
that  I  have  quoted.  One  daughter  of  a  chief  factor,  who  went  through  a  six  weeks' 
siege  by  hostiles  in  her  father's  fort,  gave  a  still  more  graphic  description.  She  said  : 
"  If  you  can  imagine  the  snarls  of  a  pack  of  furiously  vicious  dogs  saying  '  ah-oh  ' 
with  a  whoop,  you  have  it ;   and  vou  will  not  forget  it  !  " 


12        PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 

had  eaten  and  heart-sick  from  the  widening  distance 
between  himself  and  Three  Rivers.  Still,  they  treated 
him  kindly,  saying,  "  Chagon  !  Chagon  !  —  Be  merry  ! 
Cheer  up  !  "  The  fourth  day  up  the  Richelieu,  he  was 
embarked  without  being  fastened  to  the  cross-bar,  and 
he  was  given  a  paddle.  Fresh  to  the  work,  Radisson 
made  a  labor  of  his  oar.  The  Iroquois  took  the 
paddle  and  taught  him  how  to  give  the  light,  deft, 
feather  strokes  of  the  Indian  canoeman.  On  the 
river  they  met  another  band  of  warriors,  and  the 
prisoner  was  compelled  to  show  himself  a  trophy 
of  victory  and  to  sing  songs  for  his  captors.  That 
evening  the  united  bands  kindled  an  enormous  camp- 
fire  and  with  the  scalps  of  the  dead  flaunting  from 
spear  heads  danced  the  scalp  dance,  reenacting  in 
pantomime  all  the  episodes  of  the  massacre  to  the 
monotonous  chant-chant  of  a  recitative  relating  the 
foray.  At  the  next  camping-ground,  Radisson's  hair 
was  shaved  in  front  and  decorated  on  top  with  the 
war-crest  of  a  brave.  Having  translated  the  white 
man  into  a  savage,  they  brought  him  one  of  the  tin 
looking-glasses  used  by  Indians  to  signal  in  the  sun. 
"  I,  viewing  mvself  all  in  a  pickle,"  relates  Radisson, 
"smeared  with  red  and  black,  covered  with  such  a 
top,  .  .  .  could  not  but  fall  in  love  with  myself,  if 
I  had  nor  had  better  instructions  to  shun  the  sin  of 
i"»ride." 


RADISSON'S   FIRST  VOYAGE  13 

Radisson  saw  that  apparent  compliance  with  the 
Mohawks  might  win  him  a  chance  to  escape;  so  he 
was  the  first  to  arise  in  the  morning,  wakening  the 
others  and  urging  them  that  it  was  time  to  break 
camp.  The  stolid  Indians  were  not  to  be  moved  by 
an  audacious  white  boy.  Watching  the  young  pris- 
oner, the  keepers  lay  still,  feigning  sleep.  Radisson 
rose.  They  made  no  protest.  He  wandered  casually 
down  to  the  water  side.  One  can  guess  that  the  half- 
closed  eyelids  of  his  guards  opened  a  trifle  :  was  the 
mouse  trying  to  get  away  from  the  cat  ?  To  the 
Indians'  amusement,  instead  of  trying  to  escape,  Rad- 
isson picked  up  a  spear  and  practised  tossing  it,  till  a 
Mohawk  became  so  interested  that  he  jumped  up  and 
taught  the  young  Frenchman  the  proper  throws. 
That  day  the  I  ndians  gave  him  the  present  of  a  hunting- 
knife.  North  of  Lake  Champlain,  the  river  became  so 
turbulent  that  they  were  forced  to  land  and  make  a 
portage.  Instead  of  lagging,  as  captives  frequently  did 
from  very  fear  as  they  approached  nearer  and  nearer 
what  was  almost  certain  to  mean  death-torture  in  the 
Iroquois  villages  —  Radisson  hurried  over  the  rocks, 
helping  the  older  warriors  to  carry  their  packs.  At 
night  he  was  the  first  to  cut  wood  for  the  camp 
fire. 

About  a  week  from  the  time  they  had  left  Lake  St. 
Peter,  they  entered  Lake  Champlain.      On  the  shores 


Iroquois  country  in  the  days 
of  Radisson.  from  the  Jes- 
uit Relations,  the  dotted 
lines  indicating  Radis- 
son's  travels  while  he 
was  with   the    Mohawks. 


14        PATHFINDERS  OF  THE  WEST 

of  the  former  had  been  enacted  the  most  hideous  of  all 
Indian  customs  —  the  scalp  dance.  On  the  shores  of 
the  latter  was  performed  one  of  the  most  redeeming 
rites  of  Indian  warfare.  Round  a  small  pool  of  water 
a  coppice  of  branches  was  interlaced.      Into  the  water 

were  thrown  hot 
stones  till  the 
enclosure  was 
steaming.  Here 
each  warrior 
took  a  sweat- 
bath  of  purifica- 
tion to  prepare 
for  reunion  with 
his  family.  In- 
voking the 
spirits  as  they 
bathed,  the  warriors  emerged  washed  —  as  they  thought 
—  of  all  blood-guilt.^ 

In  the  night  shots  sounded  through  the  heavy 
silence  of  the  forest,  and  the  Mohawks  embarked  in 
alarm,  compelling  their  white  prisoner  to  lie  flat  in  the 
bottom  of  the  canoe.      In   the  mornincr  when  he  awak- 


^  This  practice  was  a  himling  law  on  many  trilx's.  C.uliii  rt^l.itcs  it  of  tiie  Mandans, 
and  Hcarne  of  the  Chipewyans.  The  latter  considered  it  a  crime  to  kiss  wives  and 
children  after  a  massacre  without  the  bath  of  purification.  Could  one  know  where 
and  when  that  universal  custom  of  washing  hlood-guilt  arose,  one  mystery  of  existence 
would  be  unlocked. 


RADISSON'S    FIRST  VOYAGE  15 

ened,  he  found  the  entire  hand  hidden  among  the 
rushes  ot  the  lake.  They  spent  several  days  on  Lake 
Champlain,  then  glided  past  wooded  mountains  down 
a  calm  river  to  Lake  George,  where  canoes  were  aban- 
doned and  the  warriors  struck  westward  through  dense 
forests  to  the  country  of  the  Iroquois.  Two  days  from 
the  lake  slave  women  met  the  returning  braves,  and 
in  Radisson's  words,  "  loaded  themselves  like  mules 
with  baggage."  On  this  woodland  march  Radisson 
won  golden  opinions  tor  himself  by  two  acts  :  struck 
by  an  insolent  )oung  brave,  he  thrashed  the  culprit 
soundly;  seeing  an  old  man  staggering  under  too 
heavy  a  load,  the  white  youth  took  the  burden  on  his 
own  shoulders. 

The  return  of  the  warriors  to  their  villages  was  always 
celebrated  as  a  triumph.  The  tribe  marched  out  to 
meet  them,  singing,  firing  guns,  shouting  a  welcome, 
dancing  as  the  Israelites  danced  of  old  when  victors 
returned  from  battle.  Men,  women,  and  children  lined 
up  on  each  side  armed  with  clubs  and  whips  to  scourge 
the  captives.  Well  for  Radisson  that  he  had  won  the 
warriors'  favor ;  for  when  the  time  came  for  him  to 
run  the  gantlet  of  Iroquois  diableries,  instead  of  being 
slowly  led,  with  trussed  arms  and  shackled  feet,  he  was 
stripped  free  and  signalled  to  run  so  fast  that  his  tor- 
mentors could  not  hit  him.  Shrieks  of  laughter  from 
the  women,  shouts  of  applause  from  the  men,  always 


i6        PATHFINDERS   OF  THE  WEST 

greeted  the  racer  who  reached  the  end  of  the  line  un- 
scathed. A  captive  Huron  woman,  who  had  been 
adopted  by  the  tribe,  caught  the  white  boy  as  he 
dashed  free  of  a  single  blow  clear  through  the  lines  of 
tormentors.  Leading  him  to  her  cabin,  she  fed  and 
clothed  him.  Presently  a  band  of  braves  marched  up, 
demanded  the  surrender  of  Radisson,  and  took  him  to 
the  Council  Lodge  of  the  Iroquois  for  judgment. 

Old  men  sat  solemnly  round  a  central  fire,  smoking 
their  calumets  in  silence.  Radisson  was  ordered  to  sit 
down.  A  coal  of  fire  was  put  in  the  bowl  of  the  great 
Council  Pipe  and  passed  reverently  round  the  assem- 
blage. Then  the  old  Huron  woman  entered,  gesticu- 
lating and  pleading  for  the  youth's  life.  The  men 
smoked  on  silently  with  deep,  guttural  "ho-ho's,"  mean- 
ing "yes,  yes,  we  are  pleased."  The  woman  was  granted 
permission  to  adopt  Radisson  as  a  son.  Radisson  had 
won  his  end.  Diplomacy  and  courage  had  saved  his  life. 
it  now  remained  to  await  an  opportunity  for  escape. 

Radisson  bent  all  his  energies  to  become  a  great 
hunter.  He  was  given  firearms,  and  daily  hunted 
with  the  family  of  his  adoption.  It  so  happened  that 
the  family  had  lost  a  son  in  the  wars,  whose  name  had 
signified  the  same  as  Radisson's  —  that  is,  "a  stone"; 
so  the  Pierre  of 'I'hrcc  Rivers  became  the  Orimha  of  the 
Mohawks.  'Hie  irocjuois  husband  of  the  woman  who 
had  befriended  him  gave  such   a  feast  to  the  Mohawk 


RADISSON'S   FIRST   VOYAGE  17 

braves  as  befitted  the  prestige  of  a  warrior  who  had 
slain  nineteen  enemies  with  his  own  hand.  Three 
hundred  young  Mohawks  sat  down  to  a  collation  of 
moose  nose  and  beaver  tails  and  bears'  paws,  served 
by  slaves.  To  this  banquet  Radisson  was  led,  decked 
oat  in  colored  blankets  with  garnished  leggings  and 
such  a  wealth  of  wampum  strings  hanging  from  wrists, 
neck,  hair,  and  waist  that  he  could  scarcely  walk. 
Wampum  means  more  to  the  Indian  than  money  to 
the  white  man.  It  represents  not  only  wealth  but 
social  standing,  and  its  value  may  be  compared  to  the 
white  man's  estimate  ot  pink  pearls.  Diamond-cut- 
ters seldom  spend  more  than  two  weeks  in  polishing 
a  good  stone.  An  Indian  would  spend  thirty  days  in 
perfecting  a  single  bit  of  shell  into  fine  wampum. 
Radisson's  friends  had  ornamented  him  for  the  feast 
in  order  to  win  the  respect  of  the  Mohawks  for  the 
French  boy.  Striking  his  hatchet  through  a  kettle  of 
sagamite  to  signify  thus  would  he  break  peace  to  all 
Radisson's  foes,  the  old  Iroquois  warrior  made  a 
speech  to  the  assembled  guests.  The  guests  clapped 
their  hands  and  shouted,  "  Chagon,  Orimha!  —  Be 
merry,  Pierre  !  "  The  Frenchman  had  been  formally 
adopted  as  a  Mohawk. 

The  forests  were  now  painted  in  all   the  glories  of 
autumn.     All  the  creatures  of  the  woodlands  shook  off 


i8        PATHFINDERS   OF  THE   WEST 

the  drowsy  laziness  of  summer  and  came  down  from 
the  uplands  seeking  haunts  for  winter  retreat.  Moose 
and  deer  were  on  the  move.  Beaver  came  splashing 
down-stream  to  plaster  up  their  wattled  homes  before 
frost.  Bear  and  lynx  and  marten,  all  were  restless  as 
the  autumn  winds  instinct  with  coming  storm.  This 
is  the  season  when  the  Indian  sets  out  to  hunt  and 
fight.  Furnished  with  clothing,  food,  and  firearms, 
Radisson  left  the  Mohawk  Valley  with  three  hunters. 
By  the  middle  of  August,  the  rind  of  the  birch  is  in 
perfect  condition  for  peeling.  The  first  thing  the 
hunters  did  was  to  slit  off  the  bark  of  a  thick-girthed 
birch  and  with  cedar  linings  make  themselves  a  skiff. 
Then  they  prepared  to  lay  up  a  store  of  meat  for  the 
winter's  war-raids.  Before  ice  forms  a  skim  across  the 
still  pools,  nibbled  chips  betray  where  a  beaver  colony 
is  at  work  ;  so  the  hunters  began  setting  beaver  traps. 
One  night  as  they  were  returning  to  their  wigwam, 
there  came  through  the  leafy  darkness  the  weird  sound 
of  a  man  singing.  It  was  a  solitary  Algonquin  captive, 
who  called  out  that  he  had  been  on  the  track  of  a 
bear  since  daybreak.  He  probably  belonged  to  some 
well-known  Iroquois,  for  he  was  welcomed  to  the 
camp-fire.  The  sight  of  a  face  from  Three  Rivers 
roused  the  Algonquin's  memories  of  his  northern 
home.  In  the  noise  of  the  crackling  fire,  he  succeeded 
in    tclHiig   Radisson,  without  being  overheard   by   the 


RADISSON'S   FIRST   VOYAGE  19 

Iroquois,  that  he  had  been  a  captive  for  two  years  and 
longed  to  escape. 

"  Do  you  love  the  French  ?  "  the  Algonquin  asked 
Radlsson. 

"  Do  you  love  the  Algonquin  ?  "  returned  Radlsson, 
knowing  they  were  watched. 

"As  I  do  my  own  nation."  Then  leaning  across 
to  Radlsson,  "  Brother  —  white  man  !  —  Let  us  escape  ! 
The  Three  Rivers  —  it  is  not  far  off!  Will  you  live 
like  a  Huron  In  bondage,  or  have  your  liberty  with  the 
French  ?  "  Then,  lowering  his  voice,  "  Let  us  kill  all 
three  this  night  when  they  are  asleep  !  " 

From  such  a  way  of  escape,  the  French  youth  held 
back.  The  Algonquin  continued  to  urge  him.  By 
this  time,  Radlsson  must  have  heard  from  returning 
Iroquois  warriors  that  they  had  slain  the  governor  of 
Three  Rivers,  Duplessis-Kerbodot,  and  eleven  other 
Frenchmen,  among  whom  was  the  husband  of  Radis- 
son's  eldest  sister.  Marguerite.^ 

While  Radlsson  was  still  hesitating,  the  suspicious 
Iroquois  demanded  what  so  much  whispering  was 
about ;  but  the  alert  Algonquin  promptly  quieted 
their    fears    by    trumping    up    some    hunting    story. 

1  I  have  throughout  followed  Mr.  Suite's  correction  of  the  name  of  this  governor. 
The  mistake  followed  by  Parkman,  Tanguay,  and  others  —  it  seems  —  was  first  made 
in  1820,  and  has  been  faithfully  copied  since.  Elsewhere  w-ill  be  found  Mr.  Suite's 
complete  elucidation  of  the  hopeless  dark  in  which  all  writers  have  involved  Radisson's 
family. 


20        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Wearied  from  their  day's  hunt,  the  three  Mohawks 
slept  heavily  round  the  camp-fire.  They  had  not  the 
least  suspicion  of  danger,  for  they  had  stacked  their 
arms  carelessly  against  the  trees  of  the  forest.  Terri- 
fied lest  the  Algonquin  should  attempt  to  carry  out 
his  threat,  Radisson  pretended  to  be  asleep.  Rising 
noiselessly,  the  Algonquin  sat  down  by  the  fire.  The 
Mohawks  slept  on.  The  Algonquin  gave  Radisson  a 
push.  The  French  boy  looked  up  to  see  the  Algon- 
quin studying  the  postures  of  the  sleeping  forms.  The 
dying  fire  glimmered  like  a  blotch  of  blood  under  the 
trees.  Stepping  stealthy  as  a  cat  over  the  sleeping 
men,  the  Indian  took  possession  of  their  firearms. 
Drawn  by  a  kind  of  horror,  Radisson  had  risen.  The 
Algonquin  thrust  one  of  the  tomahawks  into  the 
French  lad's  hands  and  pointed  without  a  word  at 
the  three  sleeping  Mohawks,  Then  the  Indian  be- 
gan the  black  work.  The  Mohawk  nearest  the  fire 
never  knew  that  he  had  been  struck,  and  died  without 
a  sound.  Radisson  tried  to  imitate  the  relentless 
Algonquin,  but,  unnerved  with  horror,  he  bungled  the 
blow  and  lost  hold  of  the  hatchet  just  as  it  struck  the 
Mohawk's  head.  The  Iroquois  sprang  up  with  a 
shout  that  awakened  the  third  man,  but  the  Algonquin 
was  ready.  Radisson's  blow  proved  fiital.  The  vic- 
tim reeled  back  dead,  and  the  third  man  was  already 
despatched  by  the  Algonquin. 


RADISSON'S    FIRST   VOYAGE  21 

Radisson  was  free.  It  was  a  black  deed  that  freed 
him,  but  not  half  so  black  as  the  deeds  perpetrated 
in  civilized  wars  for  less  cause ;  and  for  that  deed 
Radisson  was   to   pay  swift   retribution. 

Taking  the  scalps  as  trophies  to  attest  his  word,  the 
Algonquin  threw  the  bodies  into  the  river.  He  seized 
all  the  belongings  of  the  dead  men  but  one  gun  and  then 
launched  out  with  Radisson  on  the  river.  The  French 
youth  was  conscience-stricken.  "  I  was  sorry  to  have 
been  in  such  an  encounter,"  he  writes,  "  but  it  was 
too  late  to  repent."  Under  cover  of  the  night  mist 
and  shore  foliage,  they  slipped  away  with  the  current. 
At  first  dawn  streak,  while  the  mist  still  hid  them, 
they  landed,  carried  their  canoe  to  a  sequestered  spot 
in  the  dense  forest,  and  lay  hidden  under  the  upturned 
skiff  all  that  day,  tormented  by  swarms  of  mosquitoes 
and  flies,  but  not  daring  to  move  from  concealment. 
At  nightfall,  they  again  launched  down-stream,  keep- 
ing always  in  the  shadows  of  the  shore  till  mist  and 
darkness  shrouded  them,  then  sheering  off  for  mid- 
current,  where  they  paddled  for  dear  life.  Where 
camp-fires  glimmered  on  the  banks,  they  glided  past 
with  motionless  paddles.  Across  Lake  Champlain, 
across  the  Richelieu,  over  long  portages  where  every 
shadow  took  the  shape  of  an  ambushed  Iroquois,  for 
fourteen  nights  they  travelled,  when  at  last  with 
many    windings    and    false     alarms    they    swept    out 


22        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

on  the  wide  surface  of  Lake  St.  Peter  in  the  St. 
Lawrence. 

Within  a  day's  journey  of  Three  Rivers,  they  were 
really  in  greater  danger  than  they  had  been  in  the 
forests  ot  Lake  Champlain.  Iroquois  had  infested 
that  part  of  the  St.  Lawrence  for  more  than  a  year. 
The  forest  of  the  south  shore,  the  rush-grown  marshes, 
the  wooded  islands,  all  afforded  impenetrable  hiding. 
It  was  four  in  the  morning  when  they  reached  Lake 
St.  Peter.  Concealing  their  canoe,  they  withdrew  to 
the  woods,  cooked  their  breakfast,  covered  the  fire,  and 
lay  down  to  sleep.  In  a  couple  of  hours  the  Algon- 
quin impatiently  wakened  Radisson  and  urged  him 
to  cross  the  lake  to  the  north  shore  on  the  Three 
Rivers  side.  Radisson  warned  the  Indian  that  the 
Iroquois  were  ever  lurking  about  Three  Rivers.  The 
Indian  would  not  wait  till  sunset.  "  Let  us  go,"  he 
said.  "  We  are  past  fear.  Let  us  shake  off  the  yoke 
of  these  whelps  that  have  killed  so  many  French  and 
black  robes  (priests).  ...  If  you  come  not  now 
that  we  are  so  near,  I  leave  you,  and  will  tell  the  gov- 
ernor you  were  afraid  to  come." 

Radisson's  judgment  was  overruled  by  the  impatient 
Indian.  Fhey  pushed  their  skiff  out  from  the  rushes. 
The  water  lay  calm  as  a  sea  of  silver.  They  paddled 
directly  across  to  get  into  hiding  on  the  north  shore. 
Halfway  across    Ratlisson,  who  was  at  the  bow,  called 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE 


23 


out  that  he  saw  shadows  on  the  water  ahead.  The 
Indian  stood  up  and  declared  that  the  shadow  was  the 
reflection  of  a  flying  bird.  Barely  had  they  gone  a 
boat  length  when  the  shadows  multiplied.  They  were 
the  reflections  of  Iroquois  ambushed  among  the  rushes. 
Heading  the  canoe  back  for  the  south  shore,  they 
raced  for  their  lives.  The  Iroquois  pursued  in  their 
own  boats.  About  a  mile  from  the  shore,  the  strength 
of  the  fugitives  fagged.  Knowing  that  the  Iroquois 
were  gaining  fast,  Radisson  threw  out  the  loathsome 
scalps  that  the  Algonquin  had  persisted  in  carrying. 
By  that  strange  fatality  which  seems  to  follow  crime, 
instead  of  sinking,  the  hairy  scalps  floateci  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  back  to  the  pursuing  Iroquois. 
Shouts  of  rage  broke  from  the  warriors.  Radisson's 
skifF  was  so  near  the  south  shore  that  he  couki  see  the 
pebbled  bottom  of  the  lake  ;  but  the  water  was  too 
deep  to  wade  and  too  clear  for  a  dive,  and  there  was  no 
driftwood  to  afford  hiding.  Then  a  crash  of  musketry 
from  the  Iroquois  knocked  the  bottom  out  of  the 
canoe.  The  Algonquin  fell  dead  with  two  bullet  wounds 
in  his  head  and  the  canoe  gradually  filled,  settled,  and 
sank,  with  the  young  Frenchman  clinging  to  the  cross- 
bar mute  as  stone.  Just  as  it  disappeared  under  water, 
Radisson  was  seized,  and  the  dead  Algonquin  was 
thrown   into  the    Mohawk  boats. 

Radisson  alone  remained    to   pay   the   penalty  of  a 


24        PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

double  crime  ;  and  he  might  well  have  prayed  for  the 
boat  to  sink.  The  victors  shouted  their  triumph. 
Hurrying  ashore,  they  kindled  a  great  fire.  They 
tore  the  heart  from  the  dead  Algonquin,  transfixed  the 
head  on  a  pike,  and  cast  the  mutilated  body  into  the 
flames  for  those  cannibal  rites  in  which  savages  thought 
they  gained  courage  by  eating  the  flesh  of  their  ene- 
mies. Radisson  was  rifled  of  clothes  and  arms,  trussed 
at  the  elbows,  roped  round  the  waist,  and  driven  with 
blows  back  to  the  canoes.  There  were  other  captives 
among  the  Mohawks.  As  the  canoes  emerged  from 
the  islands,  Radisson  counted  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Iroquois  warriors,  with  two  French  captives,  one 
white  woman,  and  seventeen  Hurons.  Flaunting  from 
the  canoe  prows  were  the  scalps  of  eleven  Algonquins. 
The  victors  fired  ofi"'  their  muskets  and  shouted 
defiance  until  the  valley  rang.  As  the  seventy-five 
canoes  turned  up  the  Richelieu  River  for  the  country 
of  the  Iroquois,  hope  died  in  the  captive  Hurons  and 
there  mingled  with  the  chant  of  the  Mohawks'  war- 
songs,  the  low  monotonous  dirge  of  the  prisoners:  — 

"  If  I  die,  I  die  valiant  ! 
I  go  without  fear 
To  that  land  where  brave  men 
Have  gone  long  before  me  — 
If  I  die,  I  die  valiant." 

I'wclve  miles  up  the  Richelieu,  the  Iroquois  landed  to 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE 


25 


camp.  The  prisoners  were  pegged  out  on  the  sand, 
elbows  trussed  to  knees,  each  captive  tied  to  a  post. 
In  this  fashion  they  lay  every  night  of  encampment, 
tortured  by  sand-flies  that  they  were  powerless  to 
drive  off.  At  the  entrance  to  the  Mohawk  village, 
a  yoke  was  fastened  to  the  captives'  necks  by  placing 
pairs  of  saplings  one  on  each  side  down  the  line 
of  prisoners.  By  the  rope  round  the  waist  of  the 
foremost  prisoner,  they  were  led  slowly  between  the 
lines  of  tormentors.  The  captives  were  ordered  to 
sing.  If  one  refused  or  showed  fear,  a  Mohawk 
struck  off  a  finger  with  a  hatchet,  or  tore  the  pris- 
oners' nails  out,  or  thrust  red-hot  irons  into  the 
muscles  of  the  bound  arms.^  As  Radisson  ap- 
peared, he  was  recognized  with  shouts  of  rage  by 
the  friends  of  the  murdered  Mohawks.  Men, 
women,  and  children  armed  with  rods  and  skull- 
crackers —  leather  bags  loaded  with  stones  —  rushed 
on  the  slowly  moving  file  of  prisoners. 

"They  began  to  cry  from  both  sides,"  says  Radis- 
son ;  "  we  marching  one  after  another,  environed  with 

1  If  there  were  not  corroborative  testimony,  one  might  suspect  the  excited  French 
lad  of  gross  exaggeration  in  his  account  of  Iroquois  tortures  5  but  the  Jesuits  more  than 
confirm  the  worst  that  Radisson  relates.  Bad  as  these  torments  were,  they  were 
equalled  by  the  deeds  of  white  troops  from  civilized  cities  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
A  band  of  Montana  scouts  came  on  the  body  of  a  comrade  horribly  mutilated  by  the 
Indians.  They  caught  the  culprits  a  few  days  afterwards.  Though  the  government 
report  has  no  account  of  what  happpened,  traders  say  the  bodies  of  the  guilty  Indians 
were  tound  skinned  and  scalped  by  the  white  troops, 


26        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

people  to  witness  that  hideous  sight,  which  seriously 
may  be  called  the  image  of  Hell  in  this  world." 

The  prisoners  moved  mournfully  on.  The  Hurons 
chanted  their  death  dirge.  The  Mohawk  women 
uttered  screams  of  mockery.  Suddenly  there  broke 
from  the  throng  of  onlookers  the  Iroquois  family 
that  had  adopted  Radisson.  Pushing  through  the 
crew  of  torturers,  the  mother  caught  Radisson  by  the 
hair,  calling  him  by  the  name  of  her  dead  son, 
"  Orimha  !  Orimha  !  "  She  cut  the  thongs  that  bound 
him  to  the  poles,  and  wresting  him  free  shoved  him  to 
her  husband,  who  led  Radisson  to  their  own  lodge. 

"  Thou  fool,"  cried  the  old  chief,  "  thou  wast  my 
son  !  Thou  makest  thyself  an  enemy  !  Thou  lovest 
us  not,  though  we  saved  thy  life!  Wouldst  kill  me, 
too  ?  "  Then,  with  a  rough  push  to  a  mat  on  the 
ground,  "  Chagon  —  now,  be  merry!  It's  a  merry 
business  you've  got  into !  Give  him  something  to 
eat !  " 

Trembling  with  fear,  young  Radisson  put  as  bold  a 
face  on  as  he  could  and  made  a  show  of  eating  what 
the  squaw  placed  before  him.  He  was  still  relating 
his  adventures  when  there  came  a  roar  ot  anger  from 
the  Mohawks  outside,  who  had  discovered  his  absence 
from  the  line.  A  moment  later  the  rabble  broke  into 
the  lodge.  Jostling  the  friendly  chief  aside,  the 
Mohawk  warriors  carried    katlisson  back  to  the  orgies 


RADTSSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE  27 

of  the  torture.  l"he  prisoners  had  been  taken  out  of 
the  stocks  and  placed  on  several  scaffoldings.  One 
poor  Frenchman  fell  to  the  ground  bruised  and  unable 
to  rise.  The  Iroquois  tore  the  scalp  from  his  head 
and  threw  him  into  the  fire.  That  was  Radisson's 
first  glimpse  of  what  was  in  store  tor  him.  1  hen  he, 
too,  stood  on  the  scaffolding  among  the  other  prisoners, 
who  never  ceased  singing  their  death  song.  In  the 
midst  of  these  horrors  —  diableries^  the  Jesuits  called 
theni  —  as  if  the  very  elements  had  been  moved  with 
pity,  there  burst  over  the  darkened  forest  a  terrific 
hurricane  of  hail  and  rain.  This  put  out  the  fires  and 
drove  all  the  tormentors  away  but  a  few  impish 
children,  who  staved  to  pluck  nails  from  the  hands 
and  feet  of  the  captives  and  shoot  arrows  with  barbed 
points  at  the  naked  bodies.  Every  iniquity  that 
cruelty  could  invent,  these  children  practised  on  the 
captives.  Red-hot  spears  were  brought  from  the 
lodge  fires  and  thrust  into  the  prisoners.  The 
mutilated  finger  ends  were  ground  between  stones. 
Thongs  were  twisted  round  wrists  and  ankles,  by 
sticks  put  through  a  loop,  till  flesh  was  cut  to  the 
bone.  As  the  rain  ceased  falling,  a  woman,  who  was 
probably  the  wife  of  one  o^  the  murdered  Mohawks, 
brought  her  little  boy  to  cut  one  of  Radisson's  fingers 
with  a  flint  stone.  The  child  was  too  young  and  ran 
away  from  the  gruesome  task. 


28        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Gathering  darkness  fell  over  the  horrible  spectacle. 
The  exhausted  captives,  some  in  a  delirium  from  pain, 
others  unconscious,  were  led  to  separate  lodges,  or 
dragged  over  the  ground,  and  left  tied  for  the  night. 
The  next  morning  all  were  returned  to  the  scaffolds, 
but  the  first  day  had  glutted  the  Iroquois  appetite  for 
tortures.  The  friendly  family  was  permitted  to  ap- 
proach Radisson.  The  mother  brought  him  food  and 
told  him  that  the  Council  Lodge  had  decided  not  to 
kill  him  for  that  day  —  they  wanted  the  young  white 
warrior  for  their  own  ranks;  but  even  as  the  cheer- 
ing hope  was  uttered,  came  a  brave  with  a  pipe  of 
live  coals,  in  which  he  thrust  and  held  Radisson's 
thumb.  No  sooner  had  the  tormentor  left  than  the 
woman  bound  up  the  burn  and  oiled  Radisson's 
wounds.  He  suffered  no  abuse  that  day  till  night, 
when  the  soles  of  both  feet  were  burned.  The  ma- 
jority of  the  captives  were  flung  into  a  great  bonfire. 
On  the  third  day  of  torture  he  almost  lost  his  life. 
I^irst  came  a  child  to  gnaw  at  his  fingers.  Then  a 
man  appeared  armed  for  the  ghastly  work  of  mutila- 
tion. Both  these  the  Iroquois  father  of  Radisson  sent 
away.  Once,  when  none  of  the  friendly  family  hap- 
pened to  be  near,  Radisson  was  seized  and  bound  for 
burniiin;,  but  by  chance  the  lighted  figgot  scorched  his 
executioner.  A  friendly  hand  slashed  the  thongs  that 
bound  him,  and  he  was  drawn  back  to  the  scaffold. 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE  29 

Past  caring  whether  he  lived  or  died,  and  in  too 
great  agony  from  the  burns  of  his  feet  to  reaHze  where 
he  was  going,  Radisson  was  conducted  to  the  Great 
Council.  Sixty  old  men  sat  on  a  circle  of  mats, 
smoking,  round  the  central  fire.  Before  them  stood 
seven  other  captives.  Radisson  only  was  still  bound. 
A  gust  of  wind  from  the  opening  lodge  door  cleared 
the  smoke  for  an  instant  and  there  entered  Radisson's 
Indian  father,  clad  in  the  regalia  of  a  mighty  chief. 
Tomahawk  and  calumet  and  medicine-bag  were  in  his 
hands.  He  took  his  place  in  the  circle  of  councillors. 
Judgment  was  to  be  given  on  the  remaining  prisoners. 

After  passing  the  Council  Pipe  from  hand  to  hand 
in  solemn  silence,  the  sachems  prepared  to  give  their 
views.  One  arose,  and  offering  the  smoke  of  incense 
to  the  four  winds  of  heaven  to  invoke  witness  to  the 
justice  of  the  trial,  gave  his  opinion  on  the  matter  of 
life  or  death.  Each  of  the  chiefs  in  succession  spoke. 
Without  any  warning  whatever,  one  chief  rose  and 
summarily  tomahawked  three  of  the  captives.  That 
had  been  the  sentence.  The  rest  were  driven,  like 
sheep  for  the  shambles,  to  life-long  slavery. 

Radisson  was  left  last.  His  case  was  important. 
He  had  sanctioned  the  murder  of  three  Mohawks. 
Not  for  a  moment  since  he  was  recaptured  had  they 
dared  to  untie  the  hands  of  so  dangerous  a  prisoner. 
Amid   deathly   silence,  the    Irocjuois   father   stood  up. 


so        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Flinging  down  medicine-bag,  fur  robe,  wampum  belts, 
and  tomahawk,  he  pointed  to  the  nineteen  scars  upon 
his  side,  each  of  which  signified  an  enemy  slain  by  his 
own  hand.  Then  the  old  Mohawk  broke  into  one 
of  those  impassioned  rhapsodies  of  eloquence  which 
delighted  the  savage  nature,  calling  back  to  each  of  the 
warriors  recollection  of  victories  for  the  Iroquois. 
His  eyes  took  fire  from  memory  of  heroic  battle, 
The  councillors  shook  off  their  imperturbable  gravity 
and  shouted  "Ho,  ho!"  Each  man  of  them  had  a 
memory  ot  his  part  in  those  past  glories.  And  as 
they  applauded,  there  glided  into  the  wigwam  the 
mother,  singing  some  battle-song  of  valor,  dancing 
and  gesticulating  round  and  round  the  lodge  in  dizzy, 
serpentine  circlings,  that  illustrated  in  pantomime 
those  battles  of  long  ago.  Gliding  ghostily  from  the 
camp-fire  to  the  outer  dark,  she  suddenly  stopped, 
stood  erect,  advanced  a  step,  and  with  all  her  might 
threw  one  belt  of  priceless  wampum  at  the  councillors' 
feet,  one  necklace  over  the  prisoner's  head. 

Before  the  applause  could  cease  or  the  councillors' 
ardor  cool,  the  adopted  brother  sprang  up,  hatchet  in 
hand,  and  sang  of  other  victories.  Then,  with  a  deli- 
cacy of  etiquette  which  white  pleaders  do  not  always 
observe,  father  and  son  withdrew  from  the  Council 
Lodge  to  let  the  jurv  deliberate.  The  old  sachems 
were  disturbed.     They  had  been  moved  more  than  their 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE  31 

wont.  Twenty  withdrew  to  confer.  Dusk  gathered 
deeper  and  deeper  over  the  forests  of  the  Mohawk 
Valley.  Tawny  faces  came  peering  at  the  doors, 
waiting  for  the  decision.  Outsiders  tore  the  skins 
from  the  walls  of  the  lodge  that  they,  too,  might  wit- 
ness the  memorable  trial  of  the  boy  prisoner.  Sachem 
after  sachem  rose  and  spoke.  Tobacco  was  sacrificed 
to  the  fire-god.  Would  the  relatives  of  the  dead 
Mohawks  consider  the  wampum  belts  full  compen- 
sation? Could  the  Iroquois  suffer  a  youth  to  live 
who  had  joined  the  murderers  of  the  Mohawks  ? 
Could  the  Mohawks  afford  to  offend  the  great 
Iroquois  chief  who  was  the  French  youth's  friend  ? 
As  they  deliberated,  the  other  councillors  returned, 
accompanied  by  all  the  members  of  Radisson's  friendly 
family.  Again  the  father  sang  and  spoke.  This  time 
when  he  finished,  instead  of  sitting  down,  he  caught 
the  necklace  of  wampum  from  Radisson's  neck,  threw 
it  at  the  feet  of  the  oldest  sachem,  cut  the  captive's 
bonds,  and,  amid  shouts  of  applause,  set  the  white 
youth   free. 

One  of  the  incomprehensible  things  to  civilization 
is  how  a  white  man  can  degenerate  to  savagery. 
Young  Radisson's  life  is  an  illustration.  In  the  first 
transports  of  his  freeciom,  with  the  Mohawk  women 
dancing  and  singing  around  him,  the  men  shouting,  he 


32       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

leaped  up,  oblivious  of  pain  ;  but  when  the  flush  of 
ecstasy  had  passed,  he  sank  to  the  mat  of  the  Iroquois 
lodge,  and  he  was  unable  to  use  his  burned  feet  for  more 
than  a  month.  During  this  time  the  Iroquois  dressed 
his  wounds,  brought  him  the  choice  portions  of  the 
hunt,  gave  him  clean  clothing  purchased  at  Orange 
(Albany),  and  attended  to  his  wants  as  if  he  had  been 


Albany,  from  an  Old  Print. 


a  prince.  No  doubt  the  bright  eves  of  the  swarthy 
young  French  boy  moved  to  pity  the  hearts  of  the 
Mohawk  mothers,  and  his  courage  had  won  him  favor 
among  the  warriors.  I  le  was  treated  like  a  king. 
The  women  waited  upon  him  like  slaves,  and  the  men 
gave  him  presents  of  firearms  and  ammunition  —  the 
Indian's  most  precious  possessions.      Between  flattered 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE  33 

vanity  and  indolence,  other  white  men,  similarly 
treated,  have  lost  their  self-respect.  Beckworth,  of 
the  Missouri,  became  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
savage  ;  and  Bird,  of  the  Blackfeet,  degenerated  lower 
than  the  Indians.  Other  Frenchmen  captured  from 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  white  women  taken  from  the 
New  England  colonies,  became  so  enamored  of  savage 
life  that  they  refused  to  leave  the  Indian  lodges  when 
peace  had  liberated  them.  Not  so  Radisson.  Though 
only  seventeen,  flattered  vanity  never  caused  him  to 
forget  the  gratitude  he  owed  the  Mohawk  family. 
Though  he  relates  his  life  with  a  frankness  that  leaves 
nothing  untold,  he  never  at  any  time  returned  treach- 
ery for  kindness.  The  very  chivalry  of  the  French 
nature  endangered  him  all  the  more.  Would  he  for- 
get his  manhood,  his  birthright  of  a  superior  race,  his 
inheritance  of  nobility  from  a  family  that  stood  fore- 
most among  the  noblesse  of  New   France? 

The  spring  of  1653  came  with  unloosening  of  the 
rivers  and  stirring  of  the  forest  sap  and  fret  of  the 
warrior  blood.  Radisson's  Iroquois  father  held  great 
feasts  in  which  he  heaved  up  the  hatchet  to  break  the 
kettle  of  sagamite  against  all  enemies.  Would  Radis- 
son go  on  the  war-path  with  the  braves,  or  stay  at 
home  with  the  women  and  so  lose  the  respect  of  the 
tribe  ?      In  the   hope  of  coming  again  within  reach  of 


34       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Three  Rivers,  he  offered  to  join  the  Iroquois  in  their 
wars.  The  Mohawks  were  deHghted  with  his  spirit, 
but  they  feared  to  lose  their  young  warrior.  Accept- 
ing his  offer,  they  refused  to  let  him  accompany  them 
to  Quebec,  but  assigned  him  to  a  band  of  young 
braves,  who  were  to  raid  the  border-lands  between  the 
Huron  country  of  the  Upper  Lakes  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence. This  was  not  what  Radisson  wanted,  but  he 
could  not  draw  back.  There  followed  months  of 
wild  wanderings  round  the  regions  of  Niagara.  The 
band  of  young  braves  passed  dangerous  places  with 
great  precipices  and  a  waterfall,  where  the  river  was  a 
mile  wide  and  unfrozen.  Radisson  was  constrained 
to  witness  many  acts  against  the  Eries,  which  must 
have  one  of  two  effects  on  white  blood,  —  either  turn 
the  white  man  into  a  complete  savage,  or  disgust  him 
utterly  with  savage  life.  Lea  zing  the  Mohawk  village 
amid  a  blare  of  guns  and  shouts,  the  young  braves  on 
their  maiden  venture  passed  successively  through  the 
lodges  of  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Senecas,  and  Cayugas, 
where  they  were  feasted  almost  to  death  by  the  Iro- 
quois Confederacy.^  Then  they  marched  to  the  vast 
wilderness  of  snow-padded  forests  and  heaped  windfall 
between  Lake  Ontario  ami  Lake  Erie. 

Snow   still   lay  in   great  drifts   under  the  shadow  of 

1  Radisson  puts  the  Senecas  before  the  Cayugas,  vvliieli  is  Jirterent  from  tlie  order 
given  hy  tlie  Jesuits, 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE  ^s 

hemlock  and  spruce  ;  and  the  braves  skimmed  for- 
ward -'inged  with  the  noiseless  speed  of  snow-shoes. 
When  the  snow  became  too  soft  from  thaw  for  snow- 
shoes,  they  paused  to  build  themselves  a  skiff.  It 
was  too  early  to  peel  the  bark  off  the  birch,  so  they 
made  themselves  a  dugout  ot  the  walnut  tree.  The 
wind  changed  from  north  to  south,  clearing  the  lakes 
of  ice  and  filling  the  air  with  the  earthy  smells  of  up- 
bursting  growth.  "  There  was  such  a  thawing," 
writes  Radisson,  "  ye  little  brookes  flowed  like  rivers, 
which  made  us  embark  to  wander  over  that  sweet  sea." 
Lounging  in  their  skiff  all  day,  carried  from  shore  to 
shore  with  the  waves,  and  sleeping  round  camp-fires 
on  the  sand  each  night,  the  young  braves  luxuriated 
in  all  the  delights  of  sunny  idleness  and  spring  life. 
But  this  was  not  war.  It  was  play,  and  play  of  the 
sort  that  weans  the  white  man  from  civilization  to 
savagery. 

One  day  a  scout,  who  had  climbed  to  the  top  of 
a  tree,  espied  two  strange  squaws.  They  were  of  a 
hostile  tribe.  The  Mohawk  bloodthirst  was  up  as  ? 
wolf's  at  the  sight  of  lambs.  In  vain  Radisson  tried 
to  save  the  women  bv  warning  the  Iroquois  that  it  there 
were  women,  there  must  be  men,  too,  who  would  exact 
vengeance  for  the  squaws'  death.  The  young  braves 
only  laid  their  plans  the  more  carefully  for  his  warning 
and  m^sacred  the  entire  encampment.    Prisoners  were 


26       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

taken,  but  when  food  became  scarce  they  were  brutally 
knocked  on  the  head.  These  tribes  had  never  heard 
guns  before,  and  at  the  sound  of  shots  fled  as  from  dia- 
bolical enemies.  It  was  an  easy  matter  for  the  young 
braves  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  to  take  a  score  of 
scalps  and  a  dozen  prisoners.  At  one  place  more  than 
two  hundred  beaver  were  trapped.  At  the  end  of  the 
raid,  the  booty  was  equally  divided.  Radisson  asked 
that  the  woman  prisoner  be  given  to  him ;  and  he 
saved  her  from  torture  and  death  on  the  return  to  the 
Mohawks  by  presenting  her  as  a  slave  to  his  Indian 
mother.  All  his  other  share  of  booty  he  gave  to  the 
friendly  family.  The  raid  was  over.  He  had  failed 
of  his  main  object  in  joining  it.  He  had  not  escaped. 
But  he  had  made  one  important  gain.  His  valor  had 
reestablished  the  confidence  of  the  Indians  so  that 
when  they  went  on  a  free-booting  expedition  against 
the  whites  of  the  Dutch  settlements  at  Orange  (Albany), 
Radisson  was  taken  with  them.  Orange,  or  Albany, 
consisted  at  that  time  of  some  fifty  thatched  log-houses 
surrounded  by  a  settlement  of  perhaps  a  hundred 
and  fifty  farmers.  This  raid  was  bloodless.  The 
warriors  looted  the  farmers'  cabins,  emptied  their  cup- 
boards, and  drank  their  beer  cellars  dry  to  the  last 
drop.  Once  more  Radisson  kept  his  head.  While 
the  braves  entered  Fort  Orange  roaring  drunk,  Radis- 
son was  alert  and  sober.     A  drunk  Indian  fills  an  easy 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE 


31 


prey  in  the  bartering  of  pelts.  The  Iroquois  wanted 
guns.  The  Dutch  wanted  pelts.  The  whites  treated 
the  savages  like  kings  ;  and  the  Mohawks  marched 
from  house  to  house  feasting  of  the  best.  Radisson 
was  dressed  in  garnished  buckskin  and  had  been 
painted  like  a   Mohawk.      Suspecting  some  design  to 


The  Battery,   New  York,  in  Radisson's  Time. 

escape,  his  Iroquois  friends  never  left  him.  The 
young  Frenchman  now  saw  white  men  for  the  first 
time  in  almost  two  years  ;  but  the  speech  that  he 
heard  was  in  a  strange  tongue.  As  Radisson  went 
into  the  fort,  he  noticed  a  soldier  among  the  Dutch. 
At  the  same  instant  the  soldier  recognized  him  as  a 
Frenchman,  and  oblivious  of  the   Mohawks'  presence 


38       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

blurted  out  his  discovery  in  Iroquois  dialect,  vowing 
that  for  all  the  paint  and  grease,  this  youth  was  a  white 
man  below.  The  fellow's  blundering  might  have 
cost  Radisson's  life ;  but  the  youth  had  not  been  a 
captive  among  crafty  Mohawks  for  nothing.  Radis- 
son  feigned  surprise  at  the  accusation.  That  quieted 
the  Mohawk  suspicions  and  they  were  presently  deep  in 
the  beer  pots  of  the  Dutch.  Again  the  soldier  spoke, 
this  time  in  French.  It  was  the  first  time  that  Radis- 
son  had  heard  his  native  tongue  for  months.  He 
answered  in  French.  At  that  the  soldier  emitted 
shouts  of  delight,  for  he,  too,  was  French,  and  these 
strangers  in  an  alien  land  threw  their  arms  about  each 
other  like  a  pair  of  long-lost  brothers  with  exclama- 
tions of  joy  too  great  for  words. 

From  that  moment  Radisson  became  the  lion  of 
Fort  Orange.  The  women  dragged  him  to  their 
houses  and  forced  more  dainties  on  him  than  he  could 
eat.  He  was  conducted  from  house  to  house  in 
triumph,  to  the  amazed  delight  of  the  Indians.  The 
Dutch  offered  to  ransom  him  at  any  price  ;  but  that 
would  have  exposed  the  Dutch  settlement  to  the 
resentment  of  the  Mohawks  and  placed  Radisson 
under  heavy  obligation  to  people  who  were  the  ene- 
mies of  New  France.  Besides,  his  honor  was  pledged 
to  return  to  his  Indian  parents  ;  and  it  was  a  long  way 
home  to  have  to  sail  to   Europe  and   back   again    to 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE 


39 


Quebec.  Perhaps,  too,  there  was  deep  In  his  heart 
what  he  did  not  reaHze  —  a  rooted  love  for  the  wilds 
that  was  to  follow  him  all  through  life.  By  the 
devious  course  of  captivity,  he  had  tasted  of  a  new 
freedom  and  could  not  give  it  up.  He  declined  the 
offer  of  the  Dutch.  In  two  days  he  was  back  among 
the  Mohawks  ten  times  more  a  hero  than  he  had 
ever  been.      Mother  and  sisters  were  his  slaves. 

But  between  love  of  the  wilds  and  love  of  bar- 
barism is  a  wide  difference.  He  had  not  been  back 
for  two  weeks  when  that  glimpse  of  crude  civilization 
at  Orange  recalled  torturing  memories  of  the  French 
home  In  Three  Rivers.  The  filthy  food,  the  smoky 
lodges,  the  cruelties  of  the  Mohawks,  filled  him  with 
loathing.  The  nature  of  the  white  man,  which  had 
been  hidden  under  the  grease  and  paint  of  the  savage 
—  and  In  danger  of  total  eclipse  —  now  came  upper- 
most. With  Radlsson,  to  think  was  to  act.  He 
determined  to  escape  If  It  cost  him  his  life. 

Taking  only  a  hatchet  as  If  he  were  going  to  cut 
wood,  Radlsson  left  the  Indian  lodge  early  one  morn- 
ing In  the  fall  of  1653.  Once  out  of  sight  from 
the  village,  he  broke  Into  a  run,  following  the  trail 
through  the  dense  forests  of  the  Mohawk  Valley 
toward  Fort  Orange.  On  and  on  he  ran,  all  that  day, 
without  pause  to  rest  or  eat,  without  backward  glance, 
with  eye  ever  piercing  through   the   long  leafy  vistas 


40       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

of  the  forest  on  the  watch  for  the  fresh-chipped  bark 
of  the  trees  that  guided  his  course,  or  the  narrow 
indurated  path  over  the  spongy  mould  worn  by  run- 
ning warriors.  And  when  night  filled  the  forest  with 
the  hoot  of  owl,  and  the  far,  weird  cries  of  wild  creatures 
on  the  rove,  there  sped  through  the  aisled  columns 
of  star  light  and  shadow,  the  ghostly  figure  of  the 
French  boy  slim,  and  lithe  as  a  willow,  with  muscles  tense 
as  ironwood,  and  step  silent  as  the  mountain-cat.  All 
that  night  he  ran  without  a  single  stop.  Chill  day- 
break found  him  still  staggering  on,  over  rocks  slippery 
with  the  night  frost,  over  windfall  tree  on  tree  in  a 
barricade,  through  brawling  mountain  brooks  where 
his  moccasins  broke  the  skim  of  ice  at  the  edge,  past 
rivers  where  he  half  waded,  half  swam.  He  was  now 
faint  from  want  of  food ;  but  fear  spurred  him  on. 
The  morning  air  was  so  cold  that  he  found  it  better 
to  run  than  rest.  By  four  of  the  afternoon  he  came 
to  a  clearing  in  the  forest,  where  was  the  cabin  of 
a  settler.  A  man  was  chopping  wood.  Radisson 
ascertained  that  there  were  no  Iroquois  in  the  cabin, 
and,  hiding  in  it,  persuaded  the  settler  to  carry  a 
message  to  Fort  Orange,  two  miles  farther  on.  While 
he  waited  Indians  passed  the  cabin,  singing  and  shout- 
ing. The  settler's  wife  concealed  him  behind  sacks 
of  wheat  and  put  out  all  lights.  Within  an  hour 
came    a    rescue    party    from    Orange,    who    conducted 


RADISSON'S    FIRST    VOYAGE 


41 


him  safely  to  the  fort.  For  three  days  Radisson  hid 
in  Orange,  while  the  Mohawks  wandered  through 
the  fort,  calling  him   by  name. 

Gifts  of  money  from  the  Jesuit,  Poncet,  and  from  a 
Dutch  merchant,  enabled  Radisson  to  take  ship  from 
Orange  to  New  York,  and  from  New  York  to  Europe. 


This  view  of  Fort  Amsterdam  on  the  Manhattan  is  copied  from  an  ancient 
engraving  executed  in  Holland.  The  fort  was  erected  in  1623  but 
finished  upon  the  above  model  by  Governor  Van  Twiller  in  1635. 

Pere  Poncet  had  been  captured  by  the  Mohawks  the 
preceding  summer,  but  had  escaped  to  Orange.-^  Em- 
barking on  a  small  sloop,  Radisson  sailed  down  the 
Hudson  to  New  York,  which  then  consisted  of  some 
five  hundred  houses,  with  stores,  barracks, a  stone  church, 

^  The  fact  that  Radisson  confessed  his  sins  to  this  priest  seems  pretty  weU  to  prove 
that  Pierre  was  a  Catholic  and  not  a  Protestant,  as  has  been  so  often  stated. 


42       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

and  a  dilapidated  fort.  Central  Park  was  a  forest ; 
goats  and  cows  pastured  on  what  is  now  Wall  Street ; 
and  to  east  and  west  was  a  howling  wilderness  of 
marsh  and  woods.  After  a  stay  of  three  weeks, 
Radisson  embarked  for  Amsterdam,  which  he  reached 
in  January,   1654. 


0    ^ 


CHAPTER    II 

1657-1658 

RADISSON'S  SECOND  VOYAGE 

Radisson  returns  to  Quebec,  where  he  joins  the  Jesuits  to  go  to  the 
Iroquois  Mission  —  He  witnesses  the  Massacre  of"  the  Hurons 
among  the  Thousand  Islands  —  Besieged  by  the  Iroquois,  they  pass 
the  Winter  as  Prisoners  of  War  —  Conspiracy  to  massacre  the 
French  foiled  by   Radisson, 

From  Amsterdam  Radisson  took  ship  to  Rochelle. 
Here  he  found  himself  a  stranger  in  his  native  land. 
All  his  kin  of  whom  there  is  any  record  — -  Pierre 
Radisson,  his  father,  Madeline  Henault,  his  mother. 
Marguerite  and  Fran^oise,  his  elder  and  younger  sisters, 
his  uncle  and  aunt,  with  their  daughter,  Elizabeth  — 
were  now    living  at    Three    Rivers    in   New  France.^ 

^  The  uncle,  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson,  is  the  one  with  whom  careless  writers  have 
confused  the  young  hero,  owing  to  identity  of  name.  Madeline  Henault  has  been 
described  as  the  explorer's  first  wife,  notwithstanding  genealogical  impossibilities  which 
make  the  explorer's  daughter  thirty-six  years  old  before  he  was  seventeen.  Even  the 
infallible  Tanguay  trips  on  Radisson's  genealogy.  I  have  before  me  the  complete  record 
of  the  family  taken  from  the  parish  registers  of  Three  Rivers  and  Quebec,  by  the  inde- 
fatigable Mr.  Suite,  whose  explanation  of  the  case  is  this  :  that  Radisson's  mother, 
Madeline  Henault,  first  married  Sebastien  Hayet,  of  St.  Malo,  to  whom  was  born 
Marguerite  about  1630;  that  her  second  husband  was  Pierre  Esprit  Radisson  of  Paris, 
to  whom  were  born  our  hero  and  the  sisters  Franc^oise  and  Elizabeth. 

43 


44        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Embarking  with  the  fishing  fleet  that  yearly  left 
France  for  the  Grand  Banks,  Radisson  came  early 
in  the  spring  of  1654  to  Isle  Percee  at  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  He  was  still  a  week's  journey  from 
Three  Rivers,  but  chance  befriended  him.  Algon- 
quin canoes  were  on  the  way  up  the  river  to  war  on 
the  Iroquois.  Joining  the  Indian  canoes,  he  slipped 
past  the  hilly  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  in  five 
days  was  between  the  main  bank  on  the  north  side 
and  the  muddy  shallows  of  the  Isle  of  Orleans. 
Sheering  out  where  the  Montmorency  roars  over  a 
precipice  in  a  shining  cataract,  the  canoes  glided  across 
St.  Charles  River  among  the  forests  of  masts  heaving 
to  the  tide  below  the  beetling  heights  of  Cape  Dia- 
mond, Quebec. 

It  was  May,  1651,  when  he  had  first  seen  the  turrets 
and  spires  of  Quebec  glittering  on  the  hillside  in  the 
sun;  it  was  May,  1652,  that  the  Iroquois  had  carried 
him  off  from  Three  Rivers;  and  it  was  May,  1654, 
when  he  came  again  to  his  own.  He  was  welcomed 
back  as  from  the  dead.  Changes  had  taken  place 
in  the  interval  of  his  captivity.  A  truce  had  been 
arranged  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  French. 
Now  that  the  Huron  missions  had  been  wiped  out  by 
Iroquois  wars,  the  Jesuits  regarded  the  truce  as  a 
Divine  provision  for  a  mission  among  the  Iroquois. 
The  year  that  Radisson  escaped  from  the   Mohawks, 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE        45 

Jesuit  priests  had  gone  among  them.  A  still  greater 
change  that  was  to  affect  his  life  more  vitally  had 
taken  place  in  the  Radisson  family.  The  year  that 
Radisson  had  been  captured,  the  outraged  people  of 
Three  Rivers  had  seized  a  Mohawk  chief  and  burned 
him  to  death.  In  revenge,  the  Mohawks  murdered 
the  governor  of  Three  Rivers  and  a  company  of 
Frenchmen.  Among  the  slain  was  the  husband  of 
Radisson's  sister.  Marguerite.  When  Radisson  re- 
turned, he  found  that  his  widowed  sister  had  married 
Medard  Chouart  Groseillers,  a  famous  fur  trader  of 
New  France,  who  had  passed  his  youth  as  a  lay  helper 
to  the  Jesuit  missions  of  Lake  Huron. ^  Radisson  was 
now  doubly  bound  to  the  Jesuits  by  gratitude  and 
family  ties.  Never  did  pagan  heart  hear  an  evangel 
more  gladly  than  the  Mohawks  heard  the  Jesuits. 
The  priests  were  welcomed  with  acclaim,  led  to  the 
Council  Lodge,  and  presented  with  belts  of  wampum. 
Not  a  suspicion  of  foul  play  seems  to  have  entered  the 
Jesuits'  mind.  When  the  Iroquois  proposed  to  in- 
corporate into  the  Confederacy  the  remnants  of  the 
Hurons,  the  Jesuits  discerned  nothing  in  the  plan 
but  the  most  excellent  means  to  convert  pagan    Iro- 

^  I  have  throughout  referred  to  Medard  Chouart,  Sieur  des  Groseillers,  as  simply 
"  Groseillers,"  because  that  is  the  name  referring  to  him  most  commonly  used  in  the 
State  Papers  and  old  histories.  He  was  from  Charly-Saint-Cyr,  near  Meaux,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  been  born  about  1621.  His  first  wife  was  Helen  Martin,  daughter 
of  Abraham  Martin,  who  gave  his  name  to  the  Plains  of  Abraham. 


46        PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

quois  by  Christian  Hurons.  Having  gained  an  inch, 
the  Iroquois  demanded  the  proverbial  ell.  They  asked 
that  a  French  settlement  be  made  in  the  Iroquois 
country.  The  Indians  wanted  a  supply  of  firearms 
to  war  against  all  enemies  ;  and  with  a  French  settle- 
ment miles  away  from  help,  the  Iroquois  could  wage 
what  war  they  pleased  against  the  Algonquins  without 
fear  of  reprisals  from  Quebec  —  the  settlement  of 
white  men  among  hostiles  would  be  hostage  of  gen- 
erous treatment  from  New  France.  Of  these  designs, 
neither  priests  nor  governor  had  the  slightest  suspi- 
cion. The  Jesuits  were  thinking  only  of  the  Iroquois' 
soul;  the  French,  of  peace  with  the  Iroquois  at  any 
cost. 

In  1656  Major  Dupuis  and  fifty  Frenchmen  had 
established  a  French  colony  among  the  Iroquois.  -^ 
The  hardships  of  these  pioneers  form  no  part  of 
Radisson's  life,  and  are,  therefore,  not  set  down  here. 
Peace  not  bought  by  a  victory  is  an  unstable  founda- 
tion for  Indian  treaty.  The  Mohawks  were  jealous 
that  their  confederates,  the   Onondagas,  had  obtained 

1  This  is  the  story  of  Onondaga  which  Parkman  has  told.  Unfortunately,  when 
Parkman's  account  was  written,  RaJisson''s  Journah  were  unknown  and  Mr.  Parkman 
had  to  rely  entirely  on  the  Letters  of  Marie  de  r  Incarnation  and  the  yesuit  Relations. 
After  the  discovery  of  RaJisson's  yournals,  Parkman  added  a  footnote  to  his  account 
of  Onondaga,  quoting  Radisson  in  confirmation.  If  Radisson  may  be  quoted  to  cor- 
roborate Parkman,  Radisson  may  surely  be  accepted  as  authentic.  At  the  same  time, 
I  have  compared  this  journal  with  Father  Ragueneau's  of  the  same  party;  and  the  two 
tally  in  every  detail. 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE        47 

the  French  settlement.  In  1657,  eighty  Iroquois 
came  to  Quebec  to  escort  one  hundred  Eluron  refu- 
gees back  to  Onondaga  for  adoption  into  the  Confed- 
eracy, These  Hurons  were  Christians,  and  the  two 
Jesuits,  Paul  Ragueneau  and  Francois  du  Peron, 
were  appointed  to  accompany  them  to  their  new  abode. 
Twenty  young  Frenchmen  joined  the  party  to  seek 
their  fortunes  at  the  new  settlement ;  but  a  man  was 
needed  who  could  speak  Iroquois.  Glad  to  repay  his 
debt  to  the  Jesuits,  young  Radisson  volunteered  to  go 
as  a  donne^  that  is,  a  lay  helper  vowed  to  gratuitous 
services. 

It  was  midsummer  before  all  preparations  had  been 
made.  On  July  26,  the  party  of  two  hundred,  made 
up  of  twenty  Frenchmen,  eighty  Iroquois,  and  a  hun- 
dred Hurons,  filed  out  of  the  gates  of  Montreal,  and 
winding  round  the  foot  of  the  mountain  followed  a 
trail  through  the  forest  that  took  them  past  the  La- 
chine  Rapids.  The  Onondaga  voyageurs  carried  the 
long  birch  canoes  inverted  on  their  shoulders,  two 
Indians  at  each  end;  and  the  other  Iroquois  trotted 
over  the  rocks  with  the  Frenchmen's  baggage  on  their 
backs.  The  day  was  hot,  the  portage  long  and  slip- 
pery with  dank  moisture.  The  Huron  children  fagged 
and  fell  behind.  At  nightfall,  thirty  of  the  haughty 
Iroquois  lost  patience,  and  throwing  down  their  bun- 
dles made  off  for  Quebec  with  the  avowed   purpose 


48       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

of  raiding  the  Algonquins.  On  the  way,  they 
paused  to  scalp  three  Frenchmen  at  Montreal,  cyni- 
cally explaining  that  if  the  French  persisted  in  taking 
Algonquins  into  their  arms,  the  white  men  need  not  be 
surprised  if  the  blow  aimed  at  an  Algonquin  sometimes 
struck  a  Frenchman.  That  act  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
French  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  peace  made  with  the 
Iroquois ;  but  the  little  colony  was  beyond  recall. 
To  insure  the  safety  of  the  French  among  the  Onon- 
dagas,  the  French  governor  at  Quebec  seized  a  dozen 
Iroquois  and  kept  them  as  hostages  of  good  conduct. 

Meanwhile,  all  was  confusion  on  Lake  St.  Louis, 
where  the  last  band  of  colonists  had  encamped.  The 
Iroquois  had  cast  the  Frenchmen's  baggage  on  the  rocks 
and  refused  to  carry  it  farther.  Leaving  the  whites 
all  embarrassed,  the  Onondagas  hurriedly  embarked 
the  Hurons  and  paddled  quickly  out  of  sight.  The 
act  was  too  suddenly  unanimous  not  to  have  been 
premeditated.  Why  had  the  Iroquois  carried  the 
Hurons  away  from  the  Frenchmen  ?  Father  Rague- 
neau  at  once  suspected  some  sinister  purpose.  Tak- 
ing only  a  single  sack  of  flour  for  food,  he  "called  for 
volunteers  among  the  twenty  Frenchmen  to  embark 
in  a  leaky,  old  canoe  and  follow  the  treacherous  Onon- 
dagas. Young  Radisson  was  one  of  the  first  to  offer 
himself.  Six  others  followed  his  example ;  and  the 
seven    Frenchmen     led     by    the    priest   struck    across 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE        49 

the  lake,  leaving  the  others  to  gather  up  the  scattered 
baggage. 

The  Onondagas  were  too  deep  to  reveal  their  plots 
with  seven  armed  Frenchmen  in  pursuit.  The  In- 
dians permitted  the  French  boats  to  come  up  with  the 
main  band.  All  camped  together  in  the  most  friendly 
fashion  that  night;  but  the  next  morning  one  Iroquois 
offered  passage  in  his  canoe  to  one  Frenchman,  an- 
other Iroquois  to  another  of  the  whites,  and  by  the 
third  day,  when  they  came  to  Lake  St.  Francis,  the 
old  canoe  had  been  abandoned.  The  French  were 
scattered  promiscuously  among  the  Iroquois,  with  no 
two  whites  in  one  boat.  The  Hurons  were  quicker 
to  read  the  signs  of  treachery  than  the  French. 
There  were  rumors  of  one  hundred  Mohawks  lying  in 
ambush  at  the  Thousand  Islands  to  massacre  the  com- 
ing Hurons.  On  the  morning  of  August  3  four 
Huron  warriors  and  two  women  seized  a  canoe,  and  to 
the  great  astonishment  of  the  encampment  launched 
out  before  they  could  be  stopped.  Heading  the  canoe 
back  for  Montreal,  they  broke  out  in  a  war  chant  of 
defiance  to  the  Iroquois. 

The  Onondagas  made  no  sign,  but  they  evidently 
took  council  to  delay  no  longer.  Again,  when  they 
embarked,  they  allowed  no  two  whites  in  one  canoe. 
The  boats  spread  out.  Nothing  was  said  to  indi- 
cate  anything   unusual.      The    lake    lay   like   a   silver 


so       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

mirror  in  the  Avigust  sun.  The  water  was  so  clear 
that  the  Indians  frequently  paused  to  spear  fish 
lying  below  on  the  stones.  At  places  the  canoes 
skirted  close  to  the  wood-fringed  shore,  and  braves 
landed  to  shoot  wild-fowl.  Radisson  and  Ragueneau 
seemed  simultaneously  to  have  noticed  the  same 
thing.  Without  any  signal,  at  about  four  in  the  after- 
noon, the  Onondagas  steered  their  canoes  for  a  wooded 


^S'^F"^^^?" 


Paddling  past  Hostiles. 

island  in  the  middle  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  With 
Radisson  were  three  Iroquois  and  a  Huron.  As  the 
canoe  grated  shore,  the  bowman  loaded  his  musket 
and  sprang  into  the  thicket.  Naturally,  the  Huron 
turned  to  gaze  after  the  disappearing  hunter.  In- 
stantly, the  Onondaga  standing  directly  behind  buried 
his  hatchet  in  the  Huron's  head.  The  victim  fell 
quivering  across  Radisson's  feet  and  was  hacked  to 
pieces  by  the  other  Iroquois.      Not  far  along  the  shore 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE         51 

from  Radisson,  the  priest  was  landing.  He  noticed 
an  Iroquois  chief  approach  a  Christian  Huron  girl. 
If  the  Huron  had  not  been  a  convert,  she  might  have 
saved  her  life  by  becoming  one  of  the  chief's  many 
slaves ;  but  she  had  repulsed  the  Onondaga  pagan. 
'As  Ragueneau  looked,  the  girl  fell  dead  with  her  skull 
split  by  the  chief's  war-axe.  The  Hurons  on  the  lake 
now  knew  what  awaited  them  ;  and  a  cry  of  terror 
arose  from  the  children.  Then  a  silence  of  numb 
horror  settled  over  the  incoming  canoes.  The 
women  were  driven  ashore  like  lambs  before  wolves  ; 
but  the  valiant  Hurons  would  not  die  without  striking 
one  blow  at  their  inveterate  and  treacherous  enemies. 
They  threw  themselves  together  back  to  back,  pre- 
pared to  fight.  For  a  moment  this  show  of  resistance 
drove  off  the  Iroquois.  Then  the  Onondaga  chieftain 
rushed  forward,  protesting  that  the  two  murders  had 
been  a  personal  quarrel.  Striking  back  his  own  war- 
riors with  a  great  show  of  sincerity,  he  bade  the 
Hurons  run  for  refuge  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  No 
sooner  had  the  Hurons  broken  rank,  than  there 
rushed  from  the  woods  scores  of  Iroquois,  daubed  in 
war-paint  and  shouting  their  war-cry.  This  was  the 
hunt  to  which  the  young  braves  had  dashed  from 
the  canoes  to  be  in  readiness  behind  the  thicket. 
Before  the  scattered  Hurons  could  get  together  for 
defence,  the  Onondagas  had  closed  around  the  hilltop 


52       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

in  a  cordon.  The  priest  ran  here,  there,  everywhere, 
—  comforting  the  dying,  stopping  mutilation,  defend- 
ing the  women.  All  the  Hurons  were  massacred 
but  one  man,  and  the  bodies  were  thrown  into  the 
river.  With  blankets  drawn  over  their  heads  that 
they  might  not  see,  the  women  huddled  together, 
dumb  with  terror.  When  the  Onondagas  turned 
toward  the  women,  the  Frenchmen  stood  with  mus- 
kets levelled.  The  Onondagas  halted,  conferred,  and 
drew  off. 

The  fight  lasted  for  four  hours.  Darkness  and  the 
valor  of  the  little  French  band  saved  the  women  for 
the  time.  The  Iroquois  kindled  a  fire  and  gathered 
to  celebrate  their  victory.  Then  the  old  priest 
took  his  life  in  his  hands.  Borrowing  three  belts  of 
wampum,  he  left  the  huddling  group  of  Huron 
women  and  Frenchmen  and  marched  boldly  into  the 
circle  of  hostiles.  The  lives  of  all  the  French  and 
Hurons  hung  by  a  thread.  Ragueneau  had  been  the 
spiritual  guide  of  the  murdered  tribe  for  twenty  years  ; 
and  he  was  now  sobbing  like  a  child.  The  Iroquois 
regarded  his  grief  with  sardonic  scorn  ;  but  they 
misjudged  the  manhood  below  the  old  priest's  tears. 
Ragueneau  asked  leave  to  speak.  They  grunted 
permission.  Springing  up,  he  broke  into  impassioned, 
fearless  reproaches  of  the  Iroquois  for  their  treachery. 
Casting  one  belt  of  wampum  at  the  Onondaga  chief's 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE        S3 

feet,  the  priest  demanded  pledges  that  the  massacre 
cease.  A  second  belt  was  given  to  register  the  Onon- 
daga's vow  to  conduct  the  women  and  children  safely 
to  the  Iroquois  country.  The  third  belt  was  for  the 
safety  of  the  French  at  Onondaga. 

The  Iroquois  were  astonished.  They  had  looked 
for  womanish  pleadings.  They  had  heard  stern 
demands  coupled  with  fearless  threats  of  punishment. 
When  Ragueneau  sat  down,  the  Onondaga  chief 
bestirred  himself  to  counteract  the  priest's  powerful 
impression.  Lounging  to  his  feet,  the  Onondaga  im- 
pudently declared  that  the  governor  of  Quebec  had 
instigated  the  massacre.  Ragueneau  leaped  up  with 
a  denial  that  took  the  lie  from  the  scoundrel's  teeth. 
The  chief  sat  down  abashed.  The  Council  grunted 
"  Ho,  ho  !  "  accepting  the  wampum  and  promising 
all  that  the  Jesuit  had  asked. 

Among  the  Thousand  Islands,  the  French  who  had 
remained  behind  to  gather  up  the  baggage  again  joined 
the  Onondagas.  They  brought  with  them  from  the 
Isle  of  Massacres  a  poor  Huron  woman,  whom  they 
had  found  lying  insensible  on  a  rock.  During  the 
massacre  she  had  hidden  in  a  hollow  tree,  where  she 
remained  for  three  days.  In  this  region,  Radisson 
almost  lost  his  life  by  hoisting  a  blanket  sail  to 
his   canoe.      The   wind    drifted    the    boat  so    far    out 


54       PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 

that  Radisson  had  to  throw  all  ballast  overboard  to 
keep  from  being  swamped.  As  they  turned  from 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Ontario  up  the  Os- 
wego River  for  Onondaga,  they  met  other  warriors 
of  the  Iroquois  nation.  In  spite  of  pledges  to  the 
priest,  the  meeting  was  celebrated  by  torturing  the 
Huron  women  to  entertain  the  newcomers.  Not 
the  sufferings  of  the  early  Christians  in  Rome  exceeded 
the  martyrdom  of  the  Christian  Hurons  among  the 
Onondagas.  As  her  mother  mounted  the  scaffold  of 
tortures,  a  little  girl  who  had  been  educated  by  the 
Ursulines  of  Quebec  broke  out  with  loud  weepingo 
The  Huron  mother  turned  calmly  to  the  child  :  — 

"  Weep  not  my  death,  my  little  daughter !  We 
shall  this  day  be  in  heaven,"  said  she ;  "  God  will  pity 
us  to  all  eternity.  The  Iroquois  cannot  rob  us  of 
that." 

As  the  flames  crept  about  her,  her  voice  was  heard 
chanting  in  the  crooning  monotone  of  Indian  death 
dirge:  "  Jesu — have  pity  on  us!  Jesu  —  have  pity 
on  us  ! "  The  next  moment  the  child  was  thrown 
into  the  flames,  repeating  the  same  words. 

The  Iroquois  recognized  Radisson.  He  sent  pres- 
ents to  his  Mohawk  parents,  who  afterwards  played 
an  important  part  in  saving  the  French  of  Onondaga. 
Having  passed  the  falls,  they  came  to  the  French 
fort  situated  on  the  crest  of  a  hill  above  a  lake.     Two 


RADISSON'S    SECOND   VOYAGE        SS 

high  towers  loopholed  for  musketry  occupied  the 
centre  of  the  courtyard.  Double  walls,  trenched 
between,  ran  round  a  space  large  enough  to  enable  the 
French  to  keep  their  cattle  inside  the  fort.  The  voya- 
geurs  were  welcomed  to  Onondaga  by  Major  Dupuis, 
fifty  Frenchmen,  and  several  Jesuits. 

The  pilgrims  had  scarcely  settled  at  Onondaga  be- 
fore signs  of  the  dangers  that  were  gathering  became 
too  plain  for  the  blind  zeal  of  the  Jesuits  to  ignore. 
Cayugas,  Onondagas,  and  Senecas,  togged  out  in  war- 
gear,  swarmed  outside  the  palisades.  There  was  no 
more  dissembhng  of  hunger  for  the  Jesuits'  evangel. 
The  warriors  spoke  no  more  soft  words,  but  spent 
their  time  feasting,  chanting  war-songs,  heaving  up  the 
war-hatchet  against  the  kettle  of  sagamite  —  which 
meant  the  rupture  of  peace.  Then  came  four  hundred 
Mohawks,  who  not  only  shouted  their  war-songs,  but 
built  their  wigwams  before  the  fort  gates  and  estab- 
lished themselves  for  the  winter  like  a  besieging  army. 
That  the  intent  of  the  entire  Confederacy  was  hostile 
to  Onondaga  could  not  be  mistaken  ;  but  what  was 
holding  the  Indians  back?  Why  did  they  delay  the 
massacre  ?  Then  Huron  slaves  brought  word  to  the 
besieged  fort  of  the  twelve  Iroquois  hostages  held  at 
Quebec.  The  fort  understood  what  stayed  the 
Iroquois   blow.     The   Confederacy   dared    not    attack 


S6       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 


the  isolated  fort  lest  Quebec  should  take  terrible  ven- 
geance on  the  hostages. 

The  French  decided  to  send  messengers  to  Quebec 
for  instructions  before  closing  navigation  cut  them  off 

for  the  winter.  Thir- 
teen men  and  one 
Jesuit  left  the  fort  the 
first  week  of  Septem- 
ber. Mohawk  spies 
knew  of  the  departure 
and  lay  in  ambush  at 
each  side  of  the  narrow 
river  to  intercept  the 
party ;  but  the  mes- 
sengers eluded  the  trap 
by  striking  through  the 
forests  back  from  the 
river  directly  to  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Then  the 
little  fort  closed  its 
gates    and   awaited   an 

Jogues,  the  Jesuit  missionary,  who  was  " 

tortured  by   the    Mohawks.       From    a  anSWCt     from    QucbcC. 

painting    in     Chateau    de    Ramezay,  Winter      settled      OVer 
Montreal. 

the  land,  blocking  the 
rivers  with  ice  and  the  forest  trails  with  drifts  of 
snow ;  but  no  messengers  came  back  from  Quebec. 
The    Mohawks    had     missed    the     outgoing     scouts: 


RADISSON'S    SECOND   VOYAGE        57 

but  they  caught  the  return  coureurs  and  destroyed 
the  letters.  Not  a  soul  could  leave  the  fort  but 
spies  dogged  his  steps.  The  Jesuits  continued  going 
from  lodge  to  lodge,  and  in  this  way  Onondaga 
gained  vague  knowledge  of  the  plots  outside  the 
fort.  The  French  could  venture  out  only  at  the  risk 
of  their  lives,  and  spent  the  winter  as  closely  confined 
as  prisoners  of  war.  Of  the  ten  drilled  soldiers,  nine 
threatened  to  desert.  One  night  an  unseen  hand 
plunged  through  the  dark,  seized  the  sentry,  and 
dragged  him  from  the  gate.  The  sentry  drew  his 
sword  and  shouted,  "  To  arms  !  "  A  band  of  French- 
men sallied  from  the  gates  with  swords  and  muskets. 
In  the  tussle  the  sentry  was  rescued,  and  gifts  were 
sent  out  in  the  morning  to  pacify  the  wounded  Mo- 
hawks. Fortunately  the  besieged  had  plenty  of  food 
inside  the  stockades  ;  but  the  Iroquois  knew  there 
could  be  no  escape  till  the  ice  broke  up  in  spring,  and 
were  quite  willing  to  exchange  ample  supplies  of  corn 
for  tobacco  and  firearms.  The  Huron  slaves  who 
carried  the  corn  to  the  fort  acted  as  spies  among  the 
Mohawks  for  the  French. 

In  the  month  of  February  the  vague  rumors  of 
conspiracy  crystallized  into  terrible  reality.  A  dying 
Mohawk  confessed  to  a  Jesuit  that  the  Iroquois^ 
Council  had  determined  to  massacre  half  the  company 

1  See  yesuit  Relations,  1 657-1 658. 


58       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

of  French  and  to  hold  the  other  half  till  their  own 
Mohawk  hostages  were  released  from  Quebec.  Among 
the  hostiles  encamped  before  the  gates  was  Radisson's 
Indian  father.  This  Mohawk  was  still  an  influential 
member  of  the  Great  Council.  He,  too,  reported  that 
the  warriors  were  bent  on  destroying  Onondaga.^ 
What  was  to  be  done?  No  answer  had  come  from 
Quebec,  and  no  aid  could  come  till  the  spring.  The 
rivers  were  still  blocked  with  ice  ;  and  there  were  not 
sufficient  boats  in  the  fort  to  carry  fifty  men  down  to 
Quebec.  "  What  could  we  do  ?  "  writes  Radisson. 
"We  were  in  their  hands.  It  was  as  hard  to  get 
away  from  them  as  for  a  ship  in  full  sea  without  a 
pilot." 

They  at  once  began  constructing  two  large  flat- 
bottomed  boats  of  light  enough  draft  to  run  the  rapids 
in  the  flood-tide  of  spring.  Carpenters  worked  hid- 
den in  an  attic ;  but  when  the  timbers  were  mortised 
together,  the  boats  had  to  be  brought  downstairs, 
where  one  of  the  Huron  slaves  caught  a  glimpse  of 
them.  Boats  of  such  a  size  he  had  never  before  seen. 
Each  was  capable  of  carrying  fifteen  passengers  with 
full  complement  of  baggage.  Spring  rains  were  fall- 
ing in  floods.  The  convert  Huron  had  heard  the 
Jesuits  tell  of  Noah's  ark  in  the  deluge.  Returning 
to   the    Mohawks,  he  spread  a  terrifying  report  of  an 

1  Inciters  of  Marie  dc  P  Incarnation. 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE         59 

impending  flood  and  of  strange  arks  of  refuge  built  by 
the  white  men.  Emissaries  were  appointed  to  visit  the 
French  fort ;  but  the  garrison  had  been  forewarned. 
Radisson  knew  of  the  coming  spies  from  his  Indian 
father ;  and  the  Jesuits  had  learned  of  the  Council 
from  their  converts.  Before  the  spies  arrived,  the 
French  had  built  a  floor  over  their  flatboats,  and  to 
cover  the  fresh  floor  had  heaped  up  a  dozen  canoes. 
The  spies  left  the  fort  satisfied  that  neither  a  deluge 
nor  an  escape  was  impending.  Birch  canoes  would 
be  crushed  like  egg-shells  if  they  were  run  through 
the  ice  jams  of  spring  floods.  Certain  that  their 
victims  were  trapped,  the  Iroquois  were  in  no  haste 
to  assault  a  double-walled  fort,  where  musketry  could 
mow  them  down  as  they  rushed  the  hilltop.  The 
Indian  is  bravest  under  cover;  so  the  Mohawks 
spread  themselves  in  ambush  on  each  side  of  the 
narrow  river  and  placed  guards  at  the  falls  where  any 
boats  must  be  portaged. 

Of  what  good  were  the  boats?  To  allay  suspicion 
of  escape,  the  Jesuits  continued  to  visit  the  wigwams.^ 
The  French  were  in  despair.  They  consulted  Radis- 
son, who  could  go  among  the  Mohawks  as  with  a 
charmed  life,  and  who  knew  the  customs  of  the  Con- 
federacy so  well.  Radisson  proposed  a  way  to  out- 
wit   the    savages.       With    this    plan     the    priests    had 

1  See  Ragueneau's  account. 


6o       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

nothing  to  do.  To  the  harum-scarum  Radisson 
belong  the  sole  credit  and  discredit  of  the  escapade. 
On  his  device  hung  the  lives  of  fifty  innocent  men. 
These  men  must  either  escape  or  be  massacred.  Of 
bloodshed,  Radisson  had  already  seen  too  much  ; 
and  the  youth  of  twenty-one  now  no  more  proposed 
to  stickle  over  the  means  of  victory  than  generals  who 
wear  the  Victoria  cross  stop  to  stickle  over  means 
to-day. 

Radisson  knew  that  the  Indians  had  implicit  faith 
in  dreams  ;  so  Radisson  had  a  dream. ^  He  realized 
as  critics  of  Indian  customs  fail  to  understand  that 
the  fearful  privations  of  savage  life  teach  the  crime  of 
waste.  The  Indian  will  eat  the  last  morsel  of  food 
set  before  him  if  he  dies  for  it.  He  believes  that  the 
gods  punish  waste  of  food  by  famine.  The  belief  is 
a  religious  principle  and  the  feasts  — festins  a  tout 
manger  —  are  a  religious  act;  so  Radisson  dreamed  — 
whether  sleeping  or  waking —  that  the  white  men  were 
to  give  a  great  festival  to  the  Iroquois.  This  dream 
he  related  to  his  Indian  father.  The  Indian  like  his 
white  brother  can  clothe  a  vice  under  religious  mantle. 
The  Iroquois  were  gluttonous  on  a  religious  principle. 
Radisson's  dream  was  greeted  with  joy.  Coureurs 
ran  through  the  forest,  bidding  the  Mohawks  to  the 
feast.      Leaving    ambush    of  forest  and  waterfall,  the 

^  See  Aiaric  de  I '  Incarnation  and  Dr.  Dionne's  modern  monograph. 


RADISSON'S    SECOND   VOYAGE        6i 


warriors  hastened  to  the  walls  of  Onondaga.  To 
whet  their  appetite,  they  were  kept  waiting  outside  for 
two  whole  days.  The  French  took  turns  in  enter- 
taining; the  waiting  guests.  Boisterous  games,  songs, 
dances,  and  music  kept  the  Iroquois  awake  and  hilari- 


Chateau  de  Ramezay,  Montreal,  for  years  the  residence  of  the  governor, 
and  later  the  storehouse  of  the  fur  companies. 

ous  to  the  evening  of  the  second  day.  Inside  the  fort 
bedlam  reigned.  Boats  were  dragged  from  floors  to  a 
sally-port  at  the  rear  of  the  courtyard.  Here  fire- 
arms, ammunition,  food,  and  baggage  were  placed  in 
readiness.       Guns    which    could    not    be    taken    were 


62       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

burned  or  broken.  Ammunition  was  scattered  in  the 
snow.  All  the  stock  but  one  solitary  pig,  a  few 
chickens,  and  the  dogs  was  sacrificed  for  the  feast, 
and  in  the  barracks  a  score  of  men  were  laboring  over 
enormous  kettles  of  meat.  Had  an  Indian  spy 
climbed  to  the  top  of  a  tree  and  looked  over  the 
palisades,  all  would  have  been  discovered ;  but  the 
French  entertainers  outside  kept  their  guests  busy. 
On  the  evening  of  the  second  day  a  great  fire  was 
kindled  in  the  outer  enclosure,  between  the  two  walls. 
The  trumpets  blew  a  deafening  blast.  The  Mohawks 
answered  with  a  shout.  The  French  clapped  their 
hands.  The  outer  gates  were  thrown  wide  open,  and 
in  trooped  several  hundred  Mohawk  warriors,  seating 
themselves  in  a  circle  round  the  fire.  Another  blare 
of  trumpets,  and  twelve  enormous  kettles  of  mince- 
meat were  carried  round  the  circle  of  guests.  A 
Mohawk  chief  rose  solemnly  and  gave  his  deities  of 
earth,  air,  and  fire  profuse  thanks  for  having  brought 
such  generous  people  as  the  French  among  the  Iro- 
quois. Other  chiefs  arose  and  declaimed  to  their 
hearers  that  earth  did  not  contain  such  hosts  as  the 
French.  Before  they  had  finished  speaking  there 
came  a  second  and  a  third  and  a  fourth  relay  of  kettles 
round  the  circle  of  feastcrs.  Not  one  Iroquois  dared 
to  refuse  the  food  heaped  before  him.  By  the  time 
the   kettles   of  salted  fowl   and  venison  and  bear   had 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE        63 

passed  round  the  circle,  each  Indian  was  glancing 
furtively  sideways  to  see  if  his  neighbor  could  still 
eat.  He  who  was  compelled  to  forsake  the  feast 
first  was  to  become  the  butt  of  the  company.  All 
the  while  the  French  kept  up  a  din  of  drums  and 
trumpets  and  flageolets,  dancing  and  singing  and 
shouting  to  drive  off  sleep.  The  eyes  of  the  gorging 
Indians  began  to  roll.  Never  had  they  attempted  to 
demolish  such  a  banquet.  Some  shook  their  heads 
and  drew  back.  Others  fell  over  in  the  dead  sleep  that 
results  from  long  fasting  and  overfeeding  and  fresh 
air.  Radisson  was  everywhere,  urging  the  Iroquois 
to  "  Cheer  up  !  cheer  up  !  If  sleep  overcomes  you, 
you  must  awake  !  Beat  the  drum  !  Blow  the 
trumpet !       Cheer    up  !     Cheer  up  !  " 

But  the  end  of  the  repulsive  scene  was  at  hand. 
By  midnight  the  Indians  had  —  in  the  language  of 
the  white  man  —  "gone  under  the  mahogany."  They 
lay  sprawled  on  the  ground  in  sodden  sleep.  Per- 
haps, too,  something  had  been  dropped  in  the  flesh- 
pots  to  make  their  sleep  the  sounder.  Radisson  does 
not  say  no,  neither  does  the  priest,  and  they  two  were 
the  only  whites  present  who  have  written  of  the  episode.^ 

^  This  account  is  drawn  mainly  from  /xaJissoii'' s  Journal,  partly  from  Father 
Ragueneau,  and  in  one  detail  from  a  letter  of  Marie  de  r  Incarnation.  Garneau  says 
the  feasters  were  drugged  ;  but  I  cannot  find  his  authority  for  this,  though  from  my 
knowledge  of  fur  traders'  escapes,  I  fancy  it  would  hardly  have  been  human  nature  not 
to  add  a  sleeping  potion  to  the  kettles. 


64       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

But  the  French  would  hardly  have  been  human  if 
they  had  not  assured  their  own  safety  by  drugging 
the  feasters.  It  was  a  common  thing  for  the  fur 
traders  of  a  later  period  to  prevent  massacre  and 
quell  riot  by  administering  a  quietus  to  Indians  with 
a  few  drops  of  laudanum. 

The  French  now  retired  to  the  Inner  court.  The 
main  gate  was  bolted  and  chained.  Through  the  loop- 
hole of  this  gate  ran  a  rope  attached  to  a  bell  that  was 
used  to  summon  the  sentry.  To  this  rope  the  mis- 
chievous Radisson  tied  the  only  remaining  pig,  so  that 
when  the  Indians  would  pull  the  rope  for  admission, 
the  noise  of  the  disturbed  pig  would  give  the  impres- 
sion of  a  sentry's  tramp-tramp  on  parade.  Stuffed 
effigies  of  soldiers  were  then  stuck  about  the  barracks. 
If  a  spy  climbed  up  to  look  over  the  palisades,  he 
would  see  Frenchmen  still  in  the  fort.  While  Radisson 
was  busy  with  these  precautions  to  delay  pursuit,  the 
soldiers  and  priests,  led  by  Major  Dupuis,  had 
broken  open  the  sally-port,  forced  the  boats  through 
sideways,  and  launched  out  on  the  river.  Speaking 
in  whispers,  they  stowed  the  baggage  in  the  flat- 
boats,  then  brought  out  skiffs  —  dugouts  to  withstand 
the  ice  jam  —  for  the  rest  of  the  company.  The  night 
was  raw  and  cold.  A  skim  of  ice  had  formed  on  the 
margins  of  the  river.  Through  the  pitchy  darkness 
fell  a  sleet  of  rain  and  snow  that  washed  out  the  foot- 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE        6s 

steps  of  the  fugitives.  The  current  of  mid-river  ran 
a  noisy  mill-race  of  ice  and  log  drift ;  and  the  voya- 
geurs  could  not  see  one  boat  length  ahead. 

To  men  living  in  savagery  come  temptations  that 
can  neither  be  measured  nor  judged  by  civilization. 
To  the  French  at  Onondaga  came  such  a  temptation 
now.  Their  priests  were  busy  launching  the  boats. 
The  departing  soldiers  seemed  simultaneously  to  have 
become  conscious  of  a  very  black  suggestion.  Cooped 
up  against  the  outer  wall  in  the  dead  sleep  of  torpid 
gluttony  lay  the  leading  warriors  of  the  Iroquois 
nation.  Were  these  not  the  assassins  of  countless 
Frenchmen,  the  murderers  of  women,  the  torturers  of 
children  ?  Had  Providence  not  placed  the  treacher- 
ous Iroquois  in  the  hands  of  fifty  Frenchmen  ?  If 
these  warriors  were  slain,  it  would  be  an  easy  matter 
to  march  to  the  villages  of  the  Confederacy,  kill  the 
old  men,  and  take  prisoners  the  women.  New  France 
would  be  forever  free  of  her  most  deadly  enemy. 
Like  the  Indians,  the  white  men  were  trying  to  justify 
a  wrong  under  pretence  of  good-  By  chance,  word 
of  the  conspiracy  was  carried  to  the  Jesuits.  With 
all  the  authority  of  the  church,  the  priests  forbade 
the  crime.  "  Their  answer  was,"  relates  Radisson, 
"that  they  were  sent  to  instruct  in  the  faith  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  not  to  destroy,  and  that  the  cross 
must  be  their  sword." 


66        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Locking  the  sally-port,  the  company  —  as  the 
Jesuit  father  records — "shook  the  dust  of  Onon- 
daga from  their  feet,"  launched  out  on  the  swift-flow- 
ing, dark  river  and  escaped  "  as  the  children  of  Israel 
escaped  by  night  from  the  land  of  Egypt."  They 
had  not  gone  far  through  the  darkness  before  the 
roar  of  waters  told  them  of  a  cataract  ahead.  They 
were  four  hours  carrying  baggage  and  boats  over  this 
portage.  Sleet  beat  upon  their  backs.  The  rocks 
were  slippery  with  glazed  ice ;  and  through  the  rot- 
ten, half-thawed  snow,  the  men  sank  to  mid-waist. 
Navigation  became  worse  on  Lake  Ontario ;  for  the 
wind  tossed  the  lake  like  a  sea,  and  ice  had  whirled 
against  the  St.  Lawrence  in  a  jam.  On  the  St.  Law- 
rence, they  had  to  wait  for  the  current  to  carry  the 
ice  out.  At  places  they  cut  a  passage  through  the 
honeycombed  ice  with  their  hatchets,  and  again  they 
were  compelled  to  portage  over  the  ice.  The  water 
was  so  high  that  the  rapids  were  safely  ridden  by  all 
the  boats  but  one,  which  was  shipwrecked,  and  three 
of  the  men  were  drowned. 

They  had  left  Onondaga  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1658.  On  the  evening  of  April  3d  they  came  to 
Montreal,  where  they  learned  that  New  France  had 
all  winter  suffered  intolerable  insolence  from  the  Iro- 
quois, lest  punishment  of  the  hostiles  should  endanger 
the  French  at  Onondaga.     The  fleeing  colonists  waited 


RADISSON'S    SECOND    VOYAGE         67 

twelve  days  at  Montreal  for  the  ice  to  clear,  and  were 
again  held  back  by  a  jam  at  Three  Rivers  ;  but  on 
April  23  they  moored  safely  under  the  heights  of 
Quebec. 

Coureurs  from  Onondaga  brought  word  that  the 
Mohawks  had  been  deceived  by  the  pig  and  the 
ringing  bell  and  the  effigies  for  more  than  a  week. 
Crowing  came  from  the  chicken  yard,  dogs  bayed  in 
their  kennels,  and  when  a  Mohawk  pulled  the  bell 
at  the  gate,  he  could  hear  the  sentry's  measured 
march.  At  the  end  of  seven  days  not  a  white  man 
had  come  from  the  fort.  At  first  the  Mohawks  had 
thought  the  "  black  robes  "  were  at  prayers  ;  but  now 
suspicions  of  trickery  flashed  on  the  Iroquois.  War- 
riors climbed  the  palisades  and  found  the  fort  empty. 
Two  hundred  Mohawks  set  out  in  pursuit ;  but  the 
bad  weather  held  them  back.  And  that  was  the  way 
Radisson  saved  Onondaga.^ 

1  The  feitim  a  tout  manger  must  not  be  too  sweepingly  condemned  by  the  self- 
righteous  white  man  as  long  as  drinking  bouts  are  a  part  of  civilized  customs ;  and 
at  least  one  civilized  nation  has  the  gross  proverb,  ' '  Better  burst  than  waste.' ' 


CHAPTER   III 

1658-1660 

RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE 

The  Discovery  of  the  Great  Northwest  —  Radisson  and  his  Brother-in- 
law,  GroseilJers,  visit  what  are  now  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Dakota, 
and  the  Canadian  Northwest  —  Radisson's  Prophecy  on  first  behold- 
ing the  West  —  Twelve  Years  before  Marquette  and  Jolhet,  Radisson 
sees  the  Mississippi  —  The  Terrible  Remains  of  Dollard's  Fight 
seen  on  the  Way  down  the  Ottawa  —  Why  Radisson's  Explorations 
have  been  ignored 

While  Radisson  was  among  the  Iroquois,  the  Httle 
world  of  New  France  had  not  been  asleep.  Before 
Radisson  was  born,  Jean  Nicolet  of  Three  Rivers  had 
passed  westward  through  the  straits  of  Mackinaw  and 
coasted  down  Lake  Michigan  as  far  as  Green  Bay.^ 
Some  years  later  the  great  Jesuit  martyr,  Jogues,  had 
preached  to  the  Indians  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie;  but 
beyond  the  Sault  was  an  unknown  world  that  beckoned 
the  young  adventurers  of  New  France  as  with  the 
hands  of  a  siren.  Of  the  great  beyond  —  known 
to-day  as  the  Great  Northwest — nothing  had  been 
learned  but  this:  from  it  came  the  priceless  stores  of 

^  Mr.  Benjamin  Suite  establishes  this  date  as  1634, 

68 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE         69 

beaver  pelts  yearly  brought  down  the  Ottawa  to  Three 
Rivers  by  the  Algonquins,  and  in  it  dwelt  strange,  wild 
races  whose  territory  extended  northwest  and  north  to 
unknown  nameless  seas. 

The  Great  Beyond  held  the  two  things  most 
coveted  by  ambitious  young  men  of  New  France,  — 
quick  wealth  by  means  of  the  fur  trade  and  the 
immortal  fame  of  being  a  first  explorer.  Nicolet  had 
gone  only  as  far  as  Green  Bay  and  Fox  River ;  Jogues 
not  far  beyond  the  Sault.  What  secrets  lay  in  the 
Great  Unknown  ?  Year  after  year  young  Frenchmen, 
fired  with  the  zeal  of  the  explorer,  joined  wandering 
tribes  of  Algonquins  going  up  the  Ottawa,  in  the  hope 
of  being  taken  beyond  the  Sault.  In  August,  1656, 
there  came  from  Green  Bay  two  young  Frenchmen 
with  fifty  canoes  of  Algonquins,  who  told  of  far-distant 
waters  called  Lake  "  Ouinipeg,"  and  tribes  of  wander- 
ing hunters  called  "Christinos"  (Crees),  who  spent 
their  winters  in  a  land  bare  of  trees  (the  prairie), 
and  their  summers  on  the  North  Sea  (Hud- 
son's Bay).  They  also  told  of  other  tribes,  who 
were  great  warriors,  living  to  the  south,  —  these  were 
the  Sioux.  But  the  two  Frenchmen  had  not  gone 
beyond  the  Great    Lakes. ^     These    Algonquins  were 

1  See  yesuit  Relations,  1656-57—58.  I  have  purposely  refrained  from  entering 
into  the  heated  controversy  as  to  the  identity  of  these  two  men.  It  is  apart  from  the 
subject,  as  there  is  no  proof  these  men  went  beyond  the  Green  Bay  region. 


PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


received   at    Chateau    St.    Louis,     Quebec,  with   pom- 
pous firing  of  cannon  and    other    demonstrations   of 

welcome.  So  eager  were 
the  French  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  new  land  that 
thirty  young  men  equipped 
themselves  to  go  back, 
with  the  Indians;  and  the 
Jesuits  sent  out  two  priests, 
Leonard  Gareau  and  Ga- 
briel Dreuillettes,  with  a 
lay  helper,  Louis  Boesme. 
The  sixty  canoes  left  Que- 
bec with  more  firing  of 
guns  for  a  God-speed  ;  but 
at  Lake  St.  Peter  the 
Mohawks  ambushed  the 
flotilla.  The  enterprise  of 
exploring  the  Great  Be- 
yond was  abandoned  by 
all  the  French  but  two. 
Gareau,  who  was  mortally 
wounded  on  the  Ottawa, 
probably  by  a  Frenchman  or  renegade  hunter,  died  at 
Montreal  ;  and  Dreuillettes  did  not  go  farther  than 
Lake  Nipissing.  Here,  Dreuillettes  learned  much  of 
the  Unknown  from  an  old  Nipissing  chief.     He  heard 


A  Cree  brave,  with  the  wampum 
string. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE         71 

of  six  overland  routes  to  the  bay  of  the  North,  whence 
came  such  store  of  peltry.^  He,  too,  Hke  the  two 
Frenchmen  from  Green  Bay,  heard  of  wandering  tribes 
who  had  no  settled  lodge  like  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois, 
but  lived  by  the  chase,  —  Crees  and  Sioux  and  Assini- 
boines  of  the  prairie,  at  constant  war  round  a  lake 
called  "  Ouinipegouek." 

By  one  of  those  curious  coincidences  of  destiny 
which  mark  the  lives  of  nations  and  men,  the  young 
Frenchman  who  had  gone  with  the  Jesuit,  Dreuillettes, 
to  Lake  Nipissing  when  the  other  Frenchmen  turned 
back,  was  Medard  Chouart  Groseillers,  the  fur  trader 
married  to  Radisson's  widowed  sister.  Marguerite." 

When  Radisson  came  back  from  Onondaga,  he 
found  his  brother-in-law,  Groseillers,  at  Three  Rivers, 
with  ambitious  designs  of  exploration  in  the  unknown 
land  of  which  he  had  heard  at  Green  Bay  and  on 
Lake  Nipissing.  Jacques  Cartier  had  discovered  only 
one  great  river,  had  laid  the  foundations  of  only  one 
small  province;  Champlain  had  only  made  the  cir- 
cuit of  the  St.   Lawrence,  the  Ottawa,  and  the  Great 

1  These  routes  were  ;  ( i )  By  the  Saguenay,  ( 2 )  by  Three  Rivers  and  the  St. 
Maurice,  (3)  by  Lake  Nipissing,  (4)  by  Lake  Huron,  through  the  land  of  the 
Sautaux,  (5)  by  Lake  Superior  overland,  (6)  by  the  Ottawa.  See  yesuit  Relations 
for  detailed  accounts  of  these  routes.  Dreuillettes  went  farther  west  to  the  Crees  a  few 
years  later,  but  that  does  not  concern  this  narrative. 

2  The  dispute  as  to  whether  eastern  Minnesota  was  discovered  on  the  1654—55-56 
trip,  and  whether  Groseillers  discovered  it,  is  a  point  for  savants,  but  will,  I  think, 
remain  an  unsettled  dispute. 


72        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Lakes  ;  but  here  was  a  country  —  if  the  Indians  spoke 
the  truth  —  greater  than  all  the  empires  of  Europe 
together,  a  country  bounded  only  by  three  great  seas, 
the  Sea  of  the  North,  the  Sea  of  the  South,  and  the 
Sea  of  Japan,  a  country  so  vast  as  to  stagger  the  ut- 
most conception  of  little  New  France. 

It  was  unnecessary  for  Groseillers  to  say  more.  The 
ambition  of  young  Radisson  took  fire.  Long  ago, 
when  a  captive  among  the  Mohawks,  he  had  cherished 
boyish  dreams  that  it  was  to  be  his  "  destiny  to 
discover  many  wild  nations "  ;  and  here  was  that 
destiny  opening  the  door  for  him,  pointing  the  way, 
beckoning  to  the  toils  and  dangers  and  glories  of  the 
discoverer's  life.  Radisson  had  been  tortured  among 
the  Mohawks  and  besieged  among  the  Onondagas. 
Groseillers  had  been  among  the  Huron  missions  that 
were  destroyed  and  among  the  Algonquin  canoes  that 
were  attacked.  Both  explorers  knew  what  perils 
awaited  them  ;  but  what  youthful  blood  ever  chilled  at 
prospect  of  danger  when  a  single  coup  might  win  both 
wealth  and  fame  ?  Radisson  had  not  been  home  one 
month  ;  but  he  had  no  sooner  heard  the  plan  than  he 
"  longed  to  see  himself  in  a  boat." 

A  hundred  and  fifty  Algonquins  had  come  down 
the  Ottawa  from  the  Great  Beyond  shortly  after 
Radisson  returned  from  Onondaga.  Six  of  these 
Algonquins  had   brought  their  furs  to  Three   Rivers. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE         73 

Some  emissaries  had  gone  to  Quebec  to  meet  the 
governor  ;  but  the  majority  of  the  Indians  remained  at 
Montreal  to  avoid  the  ambuscade  of  the  Mohawks  on 
Lake  St.  Peter.  Radisson  and  Groseillers  were  not 
the  only  Frenchmen  conspiring  to  wrest  fame  and 
fortune  from  the  Upper  Country.  When  the  Indians 
came  back  from  Quebec,  they  were  accompanied  by 
thirty  young  French  adventurers,  gay  as  boys  out  of 
school  or  gold  hunters  before  the  first  check  to  their 
plans.  There  were  also  two  Jesuits  sent  out  to  win 
the  new  domain  for  the  cross.^  As  ignorant  as  chil- 
dren of  the  hardships  ahead,  the  other  treasure-seekers 
kept  up  nonchalant  boasting  that  roused  the  irony  of 
such  seasoned  men  as  Radisson  and  Groseillers. 
"  What  fairer  bastion  than  a  good  tongue,"  Radisson 
demands  cynically,  "  especially  when  one  sees  his  own 
chimney  smoke  ?  .  .  .  It  is  different  when  food  is 
wanting,  work  necessary  day  and  night,  sleep  taken 
on  the  bare  ground  or  to  mid-waist  in  water,  with 
an  empty  stomach,  weariness  in  the  bones,  and  bad 
weather  overhead." 

Giving  the  slip  to  their  noisy  companions,  Radisson 
and  Groseillers  stole  out  from  Three  Rivers  late  one 
night    in    June,    accompanied    by    Algonquin    guides. 

1  The  Relations  do  not  give  the  names  of  these  two  Jesuits,  probably  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  enterprise  failed.  They  simply  state  that  two  priests  set  out,  but  were 
compelled  to  remain  behind  owing  to  the  caprice  of  the  savages. 


74       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

Travelling  only  at  night  to  avoid  Iroquois  spies,  they 
came  to  Montreal  in  three  days.  Here  were  gathered 
one  hundred  and  forty  Indians  from  the  Upper 
Country,  the  thirty  French,  and  the  two  priests.  No 
gun  was  fired  at  Montreal,  lest  the  Mohawks  should 
get  wind  of  the  departure  ;  and  the  flotilla  of  sixty 
canoes  spread  over  Lake  St.  Louis  for  the  far  venture 
of  the  Pays  d' en  Haul.  Three  days  of  work  had 
silenced  the  boasting  of  the  gay  adventurers  ;  and  the 
voyageurs,  white  and  red,  were  now  paddling  in  swift 
silence.  Safety  engendered  carelessness.  As  the  fleet 
seemed  to  be  safe  from  Iroquois  ambush,  the  canoes 
began  to  scatter.  Some  loitered  behind.  Hunters 
went  ashore  to  shoot.  The  hills  began  to  ring  with 
shot  and  call.  At  the  first  portage  many  of  the 
canoes  were  nine  and  ten  miles  apart.  Enemies  could 
have  set  on  the  Algonquins  in  some  narrow  defile  and 
slaughtered  the  entire  company  like  sheep  in  a  pen. 
Radisson  and  Groseillers  warned  the  Indians  of  the 
risk  they  were  running.  Many  of  these  Algonquins 
had  never  before  possessed  firearms.  With  the 
muskets  obtained  in  trade  at  Three  Rivers,  they 
thought  themselves  invincible  and  laughed  all  warning 
to  scorn.  Radisson  and  Groseillers  were  told  that 
they  were  a  pair  of  timid  squaws ;  and  the  canoes 
spread  apart  till  not  twenty  were  within  call.  As  they 
skirted    the  wooded   shoreSj  a  man    suddenly   dashed 


RADISSON'S   THIRD    VOYAGE 


75 


from  the  forest  with  an  upraised  war-hatchet  in  one 
hand  and  a  blanket  streaming  from  his  shoulders. 
He  shouted  for  them  to  come  to  him.  The  Algon- 
quins  were  panic-stricken.  Was  the  man  pursued  by 
Mohawks,  or  laying  a  trap  to  lure  them  within  shoot- 
ing range  ?  Seeing  them  hesitate,  the  Indian  threw 
down  blanket  and  hatchet  to  signify  that  he  was 
defenceless,  and  rushed  into  the  water  to  his  armpits. 

"  I  would  save  you,"  he  shouted  in  Iroquois. 

The  Algonquins  did  not  understand.  They  only 
knew  that  he  spoke  the  tongue  of  the  hated  enemy  and 
was  unarmed.  In  a  trice,  the  Algonquins  in  the  nearest 
canoe  had  thrown  out  a  well-aimed  lasso,  roped  the  man 
round  the  waist,  and  drawn  him  a  captive  into  the  canoe. 

"  Brothers,"  protested  the  captive,  who  seems  to 
have  been  either  a  Huron  slave  or  an  Iroquois 
magician,  "  your  enemies  are  spread  up  and  down  ! 
Sleep  not !  They  have  heard  your  noise  !  They 
wait  for  you  !  They  are  sure  of  their  prey  !  Believe 
me  —  keep  together  !  Spend  not  your  powder  in  vain 
to  frighten  your  enemies  by  noise  !  See  that  the  stones 
of  your  arrows  be  not  bent !  Bend  your  bows  !  Keep 
your  hatchets  sharp  !      Build  a  fort  !      Make  haste  !  " 

But  the  Algonquins,  intoxicated  with  the  new 
power  of  firearms,  would  hear  no  warning.  They  did 
not  understand  his  words  and  refused  to  heed  Radis- 
son's  interpretation.      Beating  paddles  on  their  canoes 


76       PATHFINDERS   OF    THE   WEST 

and  firing  off  guns,  they  shouted  derisively  that  the 
man  was  "  a  dog  and  a  hen."  All  the  same,  they  did 
not  land  to  encamp  that  night,  but  slept  in  midstream, 
with  their  boats  tied  to  the  rushes  or  on  the  lee  side  of 
floating  trees.  The  French  lost  heart.  If  this  were 
the  beginning,  what  of  the  end  ?  Daylight  had  scarcely 
broken  when  the  paddles  of  the  eager  voyageurs  were 
cutting  the  thick  gray  mist  that  rose  from  the  river  to 
get  away  from  observation  while  the  fog  still  hid  the 
fleet.  From  afar  came  the  dull,  heavy  rumble  of  a 
waterfall.^ 

There  was  a  rush  of  the  twelve  foremost  canoes  to 
reach  the  landing  and  cross  the  portage  before  the 
thinning  mist  lifted  entirely.  Twelve  boats  had  got 
ashore  when  the  fog  was  cleft  by  a  tremendous  crash- 
ing of  guns,  and  Iroquois  ambushed  in  the  bordering 
forest  let  go  a  salute  of  musketry.  Everything  was 
instantly  in  confusion.  Abandoning  their  baggage 
to    the    enemy,   the  Algonquins    and    French    rushed 

1  Whether  they  were  now  on  the  Ottawa  or  the  St.  Lawrence,  it  is  impossible 
to  tell.  Dr.  Dionne  thinks  that  the  band  went  overland  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Lake 
Huron.  I  know  both  waters — Lake  Ontario  and  the  Ottawa  —  from  many  trips, 
and  I  think  Radisson's  description  here  tallies  with  his  other  descriptions  of  the  Ottawa. 
It  is  certain  that  they  must  have  been  on  the  Ottawa  before  they  came  to  the  Lake  of 
the  Castors  or  Nipissing.  The  noise  of  the  waterfall  seems  to  point  to  the  Chaudicre 
Falls  of  the  Ottawa.  If  so,  the  landing  place  would  be  the  tongue  of  land  running  out 
from  Hull,  opposite  the  city  of  Ottawa,  and  the  portage  would  be  the  Aylmcr  Road 
beyond  the  rapids  above  the  falls.  Mr.  Benjamin  Suite,  the  scholarly  historian,  thinks 
they  went  by  way  of  the  Ottawa,  not  Lake  Ontario,  as  the  St.  Lawrence  route  was  not 
used  till  I  702. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE         77 

for  the  woods  to  erect  a  barricade.  This  would 
protect  the  landing  of  the  other  canoes.  The  Iro- 
quois immediately  threw  up  a  defence  of  fallen  logs 
likewise,  and  each  canoe  that  came  ashore  was  greeted 
with  a  cross  fire  between  the  two  barricades.  Four 
canoes  were  destroyed  and  thirteen  of  the  Indians 
from  the  Upper  Country  killed.  As  day  wore  on, 
the  Iroquois'  shots  ceased,  and  the  Algonquins  cele- 
brated the  truce  by  killing  and  devouring  all  the 
prisoners  they  had  taken,  among  whom  was  the  magi- 
cian who  had  given  them  warning.  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  wondered  if  the  Iroquois  were  reserving 
their  powder  for  a  night  raid.  The  Algonquins  did 
not  wait  to  know.  As  soon  as  darkness  fell,  there 
was  a  wild  scramble  for  the  shore.  A  long,  low 
trumpet  call,  such  as  hunters  use,  signalled  the 
Algonquins  to  rally  and  rush  for  the  boats.  The 
French  embarked  as  best  they  could.  The  Indians 
swam  and  paddled  for  the  opposite  shore  of  the 
river.  Here,  in  the  dark,  hurried  council  was  taken. 
The  most  of  the  baggage  had  been  lost.  The 
Indians  refused  to  help  either  the  Jesuits  or  the 
French,  and  it  was  impossible  for  the  white  voyageurs 
•^to  keep  up  the  pace  in  the  dash  across  an  unknown 
portage  through  the  dark.  The  French  adventurers 
turned  back  for  Montreal.  Of  the  white  men,  Radis- 
son and   Groseillers  alone  went  on. 


78        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Frightened  into  their  senses  by  the  encounter,  the 
Algonquins  now  travelled  only  at  night  till  they  were 
far  beyond  range  of  the  Iroquois.  All  day  the  fugi- 
tive band  lay  hidden  in  the  woods.  They  could  not 
hunt,  lest  Mohawk  spies  might  hear  the  gunshots. 
Provisions  dwindled.  In  a  short  time  the  food  con- 
sisted of  tripe  de  roche  —  a  greenish  moss  boiled  into 
a  soup  —  and  the  few  fish  that  might  be  caught  during 
hurried  nightly  launch  or  morning  landing.  Some- 
times they  hid  in  a  berry  patch,  when  the  fruit  was 
gathered  and  boiled,  but  camp-fires  were  stamped  out 
and  covered.  Turning  westward,  they  crossed  the 
barren  region  of  iron-capped  rocks  and  dwarf  growth 
between  the  Upper  Ottawa  and  the  Great  Lakes. 
Now  they  were  farther  from  the  Iroquois,  and  staved 
off  famine  by  shooting  an  occasional  bear  in  the  berry 
patches.  For  a  thousand  miles  they  had  travelled 
against  stream,  carrying  their  boats  across  sixty  ■por- 
tages. Now  they  glided  with  the  current  westward 
to  Lake  Nipissing.  On  the  lake,  the  Upper  Indians 
always  cached  provisions.  Fish,  otter,  and  beaver  were 
plentiful ;  but  again  they  refrained  from  using  firearms, 
for  Iroquois  footprints  had  been  found  on  the  sand. 

From  Lake  Nipissing  they  passed  to  Lake  Huron, 
where  the  fleet  divided.  Radisson  and  Groseillers 
went  with  the  Indians,  who  crossed  Lake  Huron  for 
Green    Bav   on    Lake    Michigan.      The   birch    canoes 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE 


79 


could  not  venture  across  the  lake  in  storms  ;  so  the 
boats  rounded  southward,  keeping  along  the  shore  of 
Georgian  Bay.  Cedar  forests  clustered  down  the 
sandy  reaches  of  the  lake.  Rivers  dark  as  cathedral 
aisles  rolled  their  brown  tides  through  the  woods 
to  the  blue  waters  of  Lake  Huron.  At  one  point 
Groseillers  recognized  the  site  of  the  ruined  Jesuit 
missions.  The  Indians  waited  the  chance  of  a  fair 
day,  and  paddled  over  to  the  straits  at  the  entrance 
to  Lake  Michigan.  At  Manitoulin  Island  were  Huron 
refugees,  among  whom  were,  doubtless,  the  waiting 
families  of  the  Indians  with  Radisson.  All  struck 
south  for  Green  Bay.  So  far  Radisson  and  Groseillers 
had  travelled  over  beaten  ground.  Now  they  were  at 
the  gateway  of  the  Great  Beyond,  where  no  white 
man  had  yet  gone. 

The  first  thing  done  on  taking  up  winter  quarters 
on  Green  Bay  was  to  appease  the  friends  of  those 
warriors  slain  by  the  Mohawks.  A  distribution  of 
gifts  had  barely  dried  up  the  tears  of  mourning  when 
news  came  of  Iroquois  on  the  war-path.  Radisson 
did  not  wait  for  fear  to  unman  the  Algonquin  warriors. 
Before  making  winter  camp,  he  offered  to  lead  a  band 
of  volunteers  against  the  marauders.  For  two  days 
he  followed  vague  tracks  through  the  autumn-tinted 
forests.  Here  were  markings  of  the  dead  leaves  turned 
freshly  up;   there  a  moccasin  print  on  the  sand:  and 


8o       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

now  the  ashes  of  a  hidden  camp-fire  lyi'ig  in  almost 
imperceptible  powder  on  fallen  logs  told  where  the 
Mohawks  had  bivouacked.  On  the  third  day  Radis- 
son  caught  the  ambushed  band  unprepared,  and  fell 
upon  the  Iroquois  so  furiously  that  not  one  escaped. 

After  that  the  Indians  of  the  Upper  Country  could 
not  do  too  much  for  the  white  men.  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  were  conducted  from  camp  to  camp  in  tri- 
umph. Feasts  were  held.  Ambassadors  went  ahead 
with  gifts  from  the  Frenchmen ;  and  companies  of 
women  marched  to  meet  the  explorers,  chanting  songs 
of  welcome.  "  But  our  mind  was  not  to  stay  here," 
relates  Radisson,  "  but  to  know  the  remotest  people ; 
and,  because  we  had  been  willing  to  die  in  their  de- 
fence, these  Indians  consented  to  conduct  us." 

Before  the  opening  of  spring,  1659,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  had  been  guided  across  what  is  now  Wis- 
consin to  "a  mighty  river,  great,  rushing,  profound,  and 
comparable  to  the  St.  Lawrence."  ^  On  the  shores 
of  the  river  they  found  a  vast  nation  —  "  the  people 
of  the  fire,"  prairie  tribes,  a  branch  of  the  Sioux, 
who  received  them  well.'^  This  river  was  undoubtedly 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  now  for  the  first  time  seen  by 
white  men.      Radisson  and  Groseillers  had  discovered 

1  Jesuit  Relations,  1660. 

^  yesuit  Relations,  1660,  and  Radisson'' s  Journal.  These  "people  of  the  fire," 
or  Mascoutins,  were  in  three  regions,  (  i  )  Wisconsin,  (2)  Nebraska,  (3)  on  the  Missouri. 
See  Appendix  £. 


An  Uld-timc  Buffalo   Hunt  ua  the   Plains  among  the  Sioux. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE  8i 

the  Great  Northwest,^  They  were  standing  on  the 
threshold  of  the  Great  Beyond.  They  saw  before 
them  not  the  Sea  of  China,  as  speculators  had 
dreamed,  not  kingdoms  for  conquest,  which  the 
princes  of  Europe  coveted  ;  not  a  short  road  to 
Asia,  of  which  savants  had  spun  a  cobweb  of  theo- 
ries. They  saw  what  every  Westerner  sees  to-day, — 
inimitable  reaches  of  prairie  and  ravine,  forested  hills 
sloping  to  mighty  rivers,  and  open  meadow-lands 
watered  by  streams  looped  like  a  ribbon.  They 
saw  a  land  waiting  for  its  people,  wealth  waiting  for 
possessors,  an  empire  waiting  for  the  nation  builders. 

What  were  Radisson's  thoughts  ?  Did  he  realize 
the  importance  of  his  discovery  ?  Could  he  have  the 
vaguest  premonition  that  he  had  opened  a  door  of 
escape  from  stifled  older  lands  to  a  higher  type  of 
manhood  and  freedom  than  the  most  sanguine  dreamer 
had  ever  hoped  ?  '^  After  an  act  has  come  to  fruition, 
it  is  easy  to  read  into  the  actor's  mind  fuller  purpose 
than  he  could  have  intended.  Columbus  could  not 
have  realized  to  what  the  discovery  of  America  would 

1  Benjamin  Suite  unequivocally  states  that  the  river  was  the  Mississippi.  Ot  writers 
contemporaneous  with  Radisson,  the  Jesuits,  Marie  de  I'lncarnation,  and  Charlevoix  cor- 
roborate Radisson's  account.  In  the  face  of  this,  what  are  we  to  think  of  modern  writers 
with  a  reputation  to  lose,  who  brush  Radisson's  exploits  aside  as  a  possible  fabrication  ? 
The  only  conclusion  is  that  they  have  not  read  his  Journal. 

2  I  refer  to  Radisson  alone,  because  for  half  the  time  in  1659  Groseillers  was  ill  at 
the  lake,  and  we  cannot  be  sure  that  he  accompanied  Radisson  in  all  the  journeys  south 
and  west,  though  Radisson  generously  always  includes  him  as  "  we."  Besides,  Groseillers 
seems  to  have  attended  to  the  trading,  Radisson  to  the  exploring. 


82        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

lead.  Did  Radisson  realize  what  the  discovery  of  the 
Great  Northwest  meant  ? 

Here  is  what  he  says,  in  that  curious  medley  of 
idioms  which  so  often  results  when  a  speaker  knows 
many  languages   but  is   master  of  none  :  — 

*'  The  country  was  so  pleasant,  so  beautiful,  and 
so  fruitful,  that  it  grieved  me  to  see  that  the  world 
could  not  discover  such  inticing  countries  to  live  in. 
This,  I  say,  because  the  Europeans  fight  for  a  rock  in 
the  sea  against  one  another,  or  for  a  steril  land  .  .  . 
where  the  people  by  changement  of  air  engender  sick- 
ness and  die.  .  .  .  Contrariwise,  these  kingdoms  are 
so  delicious  and  under  so  temperate  a  climate,  plen- 
tiful of  all  things,  and  the  earth  brings  forth  its  fruit 
twice  a  year,  that  the  people  live  long  and  lusty  and 
wise  in  their  way.  What  a  conquest  would  this  be,  at 
little  or  no  cost  ?  What  pleasure  should  people  have 
.  .  .  instead  of  misery  and  poverty  !  Why  should 
not  men  reap  of  the  love  of  God  here  ^  Surely,  more 
is  to  be  gained  converting  souls  here  than  in  differ- 
ences of  creed,  when  wrongs  are  committed  under 
pretence  of  religion!  ...  It  is  true,  I  confess,  .  .  . 
that  access  here  is  difficult  .  .  .  but  nothing  is  to  be 
gained  without  labor  and  pains."  ' 

1  If  any  one  cares  to  ix-iidcr  Radisson's  peculiar  junihle  of  French,  English,  Italian, 
and  Indian  idioms  into  more  intelligent  form,  they  may  try  their  hand  at  it.  His 
meaning  is  quite  clear ;  but  the  words  are  a  medley.  The  passage  is  to  be  found  on 
pp.   150—151,  of  the  Prince  Society  Reprint.      See  also  Jesuit  Relations,  1660. 


RADISSON'S   THIRD    VOYAGE  83 

Here  Radisson  foreshadows  all  the  best  ganis  that 
the  West  has  accomplished  for  the  human  race. 
What  are  they  ?  Mainly  room,  —  room  to  live  and 
room  for  opportunity  ;    equal  chances  for  all   classes, 


Father  Marquette,  from  an  old  painting  discovered  in  Montreal  by 
Mr.  McNab.     The  date  on  the  picture  is  1669. 

high  and  low;  plenty  for  all  classes,  high  and  low;  the 
conquests  not  of  war  but  of  peace.  The  question  arises, 
—  when  Radisson  discovered  the  Great  Northwest  ten 


84       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

years  before  Marquette  and  Jolliet,  twenty  years  be- 
fore La  Salle,  a  hundred  years  before  Ue  la  Veren- 
drye,  why  has  his  name  been  slurred  over  and  left  in 
oblivion  ?  ^  The  reasons  are  plain.  Radisson  was  a 
Christian,  but  he  was  not  a  slave  to  any  creed.  Such 
liberality  did  not  commend  itself  to  the  annalists  of  an 
age  that  was  still  rioting  in  a  very  carnival  of  religious 
persecution.  Radisson  always  invoked  the  blessing  of 
Heaven  on  his  enterprises  and  rendered  thanks  for  his 
victories  ;  but  he  was  indifferent  as  to  whether  he  was 
acting  as  lay  helper  with  the  Jesuits,  or  allied  to  the 
Huguenots  of  London  and  Boston.  His  discoveries 
were  too  important  to  be  ignored  by  the  missionaries. 
They  related  his  discoveries,  but  refrained  from  men- 
tioning his  name,  though  twice  referring  to  Groseillers. 
What  hurt  Radisson's  fame  even  more  than  his  in- 
difference to  creeds  was  his  indifference  to  nationality. 
Like  Columbus,  he  had  little  care  what  flag  floated 
at  the  prow,  provided  only  that  the  prow  pushed  on 
and  on  and  on,  —  into  the   Unknown.     He  sold  his 

1  It  will  be  noted  that  what  I  claim  for  Radisson  is  the  honor  of  discovering  the 
Great  Norihivest,  and  refrain  from  trying  to  identify  his  movements  with  the  modern 
place  names  of  certain  states.  I  have  done  this  intentionally  —  though  it  would  have 
been  easy  to  advance  opinions  about  Green  Bay,  Fox  River,  and  the  Wisconsin,  and 
so  become  involved  in  the  childish  quarrel  that  has  split  the  wei?tern  historical  societies 
and  obscured  the  main  issue  of  Radisson's  feat.  Needless  to  say,  the  world  does  not 
care  whether  Radisson  went  by  way  of  the  Menominee,  or  snow-shoed  across  country. 
The  question  is  :  D'ui  he  reach  the  Mississi|)pi  Valley  before  Marquette  and  Jolliet  and 
La  Salle  .''      That  question  this  chapter  answers. 


RADISSON'S   THIRD    VOYAGE         85 

services  alternately  to  France  and  England  till  he  had 
offended  both  governments  ;  and,  in  addition  to  with- 
standing a  conspiracy  of  silence  on  the  part  of  the 
Church,  his  fame  encountered  the  ill-will  of  state 
historians.  He  is  mentioned  as  "  the  adventurer," 
'"the  hang-dog,"  "the  renegade."  Only  in  1885, 
when  the  manuscript  of  his  travels  was  rescued  from 
oblivion,  did  it  become  evident  that  history  must  be 
rewritten.  Here  was  a  man  whose  discoveries  were 
second  only  to  those  of  Columbus,  and  whose  explora- 
tions were  more  far-ranging  and  important  than  those 
of  Champlain  and  La  Salle  and  De  la  Verendrye  put 
together. 

The  spring  of  1659  found  the  explorers  still  among 
the  prairie  tribes  of  the  Mississippi.  From  these  peo- 
ple Radisson  learned  of  four  other  races  occupying 
vast,  undiscovered  countries.  He  heard  of  the  Sioux, 
a  warlike  nation  to  the  west,  who  had  no  fixed  abode 
but  lived  by  the  chase  and  were  at  constant  war  with 
another  nomadic  tribe  to  the  north  —  the  Crees.  The 
Crees  spent  the  summer  time  round  the  shores  of  salt 
water,  and  in  winter  came  inland  to  hunt.  Between 
these  two  was  a  third,  —  the  Assiniboines,  —  who  used 
earthen  pots  for  cooking,  heated  their  food  by  throwing 
hot  stones  in  water,  and  dressed  themselves  in  buckskin. 
These  three  tribes  were  wandering  hunters  ;  but  the 


86        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

people  of  the  fire  told  Radisson  of  yet  another  nation, 
who  lived  in  villages  like  the  Iroquois,  on  "a  great 
river  that  divided  itself  in  two,"  and  was  called  "the 
Forked  River,"  because  "  it  had  two  branches,  the 
one  toward  the  west,  the  other  toward  the  south, 
.  .  .  toward  Mexico."  These  people  were  the  Man- 
dans  or  Omahas,  or  lowas,  or  other  people  of  the 
Missouri.-^ 

A  whole  world  of  discoveries  lay  before  them.  In 
what  direction  should  they  go  ?  "  We  desired  not  to 
go  to  the  north  till  we  had  made  a  discovery  in  the 
south,"  explains  Radisson.  The  people  of  the  fire 
refused  to  accompany  the  explorers  farther ;  so  the 
two  "  put  themselves  in  hazard,"  as  Radisson  relates, 
and  set  out  alone.  They  must  have  struck  across 
the  height  of  land  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Missouri ;  for  Radisson  records  that  they  met  several 
nations  having  villages,   "  all  amazed  to  see  us  and  very 

1  I  have  refrained  from  quoting  Radisson's  names  for  the  different  Indian  tribes  be- 
cause it  would  only  be  "  caviare  to  the  general."  If  Radisson's  manuscript  be  consulted 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  crucial  point  is  the  whereabouts  of  the  Mascoutins  —  or  people  of 
the  fire.  Reference  to  the  last  part  of  Appendix  E  will  show  that  these  people  extended 
far  beyond  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Missouri.  It  is  ignorance  of  this  fact  that  has  created 
such  bitter  and  childish  controversy  about  the  exact  direction  taken  by  Radisson  west- 
north-west  of  the  Mascoutins.  The  exact  words  of  the  document  in  the  Marine 
Department  are  :  "In  the  lower  Missipy  there  are  several  other  nations  very  numerous 
with  whom  we  have  no  commerce  who  are  trading  yet  with  nobody.  Above  Missoury 
river  which  is  in  the  Mississippi  below  the  river  Illinois,  to  the  south,  there  are  the 
Mascoutins,  Nadoessioux  (Sioux)  with  whom  we  trade  and  who  are  numerous."  Ben- 
jamin Suite  was  one  of  the  first  to  discover  that  the  Mascoutins  had  been  in  Nebraska, 
thinigh  he  does  not  attempt  to  trace  this  part  of  Radisson's  journey  definitely. 


RADISSON'S   THIRD    VOYAGE         87 

civil.  The  farther  we  sojourned,  the  dehghtfuller  the 
land  became.  I  can  say  that  in  all  my  lifetime  I  have 
never  seen  a  finer  country,  for  all  that  I  have  been  in 
Italy.  The  people  have  very  long  hair.  They  reap 
twice  a  year.  They  war  against  the  Sioux  and  the  Cree. 
...  It  was  very  hot  there.  .  .  .  Being  among  the 
people  they  told  us  ...  of  men  that  built  great  cabins 
and  have  beards  and  have  knives  like  the  French." 
The  Indians  showed  Radisson  a  string  of  beads  only 
used  by  Europeans.  These  people  must  have  been 
the  Spaniards  of  the  south.  The  tribes  on  the  Missouri 
were  large  men  of  well-formed  figures.  There  were 
no  deformities  among  the  people.  Radisson  saw  corn 
and  pumpkins  in  their  gardens.  "  Their  arrows  were 
not  of  stone,  but  of  fish  bones.  .  .  .  Their  dishes 
were  made  of  wood.  .  .  .  They  had  great  calumets 
of  red  and  green  stone  .  .  .  and  great  store  of  tobacco. 
.  .  .  They  had  a  kind  of  drink  that  made  them  mad 
for  a  whole  day."  ^     "  We  had  not  yet  seen  the  Sioux," 

1  The  entire  account  of  the  people  on  ' '  the  Forked  River  "  is  so  exact  an  account 
of  the  Mandans  that  it  might  be  a  page  from  Catlin's  descriptions  two  centuries  later. 
The  long  hair,  the  two  crops  a  year,  the  tobacco,  the  soap-stone  calumets,  the  stationary 
villages,  the  knowledge  of  the  Spaniards,  the  warm  climate  —  all  point  to  a  region  far 
south  of  the  Northern  States,  to  which  so  many  historians  have  stupidly  and  with  almost 
wilful  ignorance  insisted  on  limiting  Radisson's  travels.  Parkman  has  been  thoroughly 
honest  in  the  matter.  His  La  Salle  had  been  written  before  the  discovery  of  the  Radis- 
son Journals ;  but  in  subsequent  editions  he  acknowledges  in  a  footnote  that  Radisson 
had  been  to  "the  Forked  River."  Other  writers  (with  the  exception  of  five)  have 
been  content  to  quote  from  Radisson's  enemies  instead  of  going  directly  to  his  journals. 
Even  Garneau  slurs  over  Radisson's  explorations  j  but  Garneau,  too,  wrote  before  the 


88        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

relates  Radisson.  "  We  went  toward  the  south  and 
came  back  by  the  north."  The  Jesuit  Relations  are 
more  expHcit.  Written  the  year  that  Radisson  re- 
turned to  Quebec,  they  state  :  "  Continuing  their  wan- 
derings, our  two  young  Frenchmen  visited  the  Sioux, 
where  they  found  five  thousand  warriors.  They  then 
left  this  nation  for  another  warlike  people,  who  with 
bows  and  arrows  had  rendered  themselves  redoubtable." 
These  were  the  Crees,  with  whom,  say  the  Jesuits,  wood 
is  so  rare  and  small  that  nature  has  taught  them  to 
make  fire  of  a  kind  of  coal  and  to  cover  their  cabins 
with  skins  of  the  chase.  The  explorers  seem  to  have 
spent  the  summer  hunting  antelope,  buffalo,  moose, 
and  wild  turkey.  The  Sioux  received  them  cordially, 
supplied  them  with  food,  and  gave  them  an  escort  to 
the  next  encampments.  They  had  set  out  southwest 
to  the  Mascoutins,  Mandans,  and  perhaps,  also,  the 
Omahas.  They  were  now  circling  back  northeastward 
toward  the  Sault  between  Lake  Michigan  and  Lake 
Superior,  How  far  westward  had  they  gone?  Only 
two  facts  gave  any  clew.     Radisson  reports  that  moun- 

discovery  of  the  Radisson  papers.  Abbe  Tanguay,  who  is  almost  infallible  on  French- 
Canadian  matters,  slips  up  on  Radisson,  because  his  writings  preceded  the  publication 
of  the  Radisson  Relations.  The  five  writers  who  have  attempted  to  redeem  Radisson's 
memory  from  ignominy  are:  Dr.  N.  E.  Dionne,  of  the  Parliamentary  Library,  Quebec  ; 
Mr.  Justice  Prudhomme,  of  St.  Boniface,  Manitoba  5  Dr.  George  Bryce,  of  Winnepeg; 
Mr.  Benjamin  Suite,  of  Ottawa  ;  and  Judge  J.  V.  Brower,  of  St.  Paul,  li  ever  a  mon- 
ument be  erected  to  Radisson  —  as  one  certainly  ouglit  in  every  province  and  state  west 
of  the  Great  Lakes  — the  names  of  these  four  cliampions  should  be  engraved  upon  it. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE  89 

tains  lay  far  Inland  ;  and  the  Jesuits  record  that  the 
explorers  were  among  tribes  that  used  coal.  This 
must  have  been  a  country  far  west  of  the  Mandans 
and  Mascoutins  and  within  sight  of  at  least  the  Bad 
Lands,  or  that  stretch  of  rough  country  between  the 
prairie  and  outlying  foothills  of  the  Rockies.^  The 
course  of  the  first  exploration  seems  to  have  circled 
over  the  territory  now  known  as  Wisconsin,  perhaps 
eastern  Iowa  and  Nebraska,  South  Dakota,  Montana, 
and  back  over  North  Dakota  and  Minnesota  to  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Superior.  "  The  lake  toward 
the  north  is  full  of  rocks,  yet  great  ships  can  ride  in  it 
without  danger,"  writes  Radisson.  At  the  Sault  they 
found  the  Crees  and  Sautaux  in  bitter  war.  They 
also  heard  of  a  French  establishment,  and  going  to 
visit  it  found  that  the  Jesuits  had  established  a 
mission. 

Radisson  had  explored  the  Southwest.  He  now 
decided  to  essay  the  Northwest.     When  the  Sautaux 

1  This  claim  will,  I  know,  stagger  preconceived  ideas.  In  the  light  of  only  Radis- 
son's  narrative,  the  third  voyage  has  usually  been  identified  with  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
sota ;  but  in  the  light  of  the  "Jesuit  Relations,  written  the  year  that  Radisson  returned, 
to  what  tribes  could  the  descriptions  apply  ?  Even  Parkman's  footnote  acknowledged 
that  Radisson  was  among  the  people  of  the  Missouri.  Grant  that,  and  the  question 
arises.  What  people  on  the  Missouri  answer  the  description  ?  The  Indians  of  the  far 
west  use  not  only  coal  for  fire,  but  raw  galena  to  make  bullets  for  their  guns.  In  fact, 
it  was  that  practice  of  the  tribes  of  Idaho  that  led  prospectors  to  find  the  Blue  Bell 
Mine  of  Kootenay.  Granting  that  the  Jesuit  account  —  which  was  of  course,  from 
hearsay —  mistook  the  use  of  turf,  dry  grass,  or  buffalo  refuse  for  a  kind  ot  coal, 
the  fact  remains  that  only  the  very  far  western  tribes  had  this  custom. 


90       PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

were  at  war  with  the  Crees,  he  met  the  Crees  and 
heard  of  the  great  salt  sea  in  the  north.  Surely  this 
was  the  Sea  of  the  North  —  Hudson  Bay  —  of  which 
the  Nipissing  chief  had  told  Groseillers  long  ago. 
Then  the  Crees  had  great  store  of  beaver  pelts  ;  and 
trade  must  not  be  forgotten.  No  sooner  had  peace 
been  arranged  between  Sautaux  and  Crees,  than  Cree 
hunters  flocked  out  of  the  northern  forests  to  winter 
on  Lake  Superior.  A  rumor  of  Iroquois  on  the  war- 
path compelled  Radisson  and  Groseillers  to  move 
their  camp  back  from  Lake  Superior  higher  up  the 
chain  of  lakes  and  rivers  between  what  is  now  Minne- 
sota and  Canada,  toward  the  country  of  the  Sioux. 
In  the  fall  of  1659  Groseillers'  health  began  to  fail 
from  the  hardships ;  so  he  remained  in  camp  for  the 
winter,  attending  to  the  trade,  while  Radisson  carried 
on  the  explorations  alone. 

This  was  one  of  the  coldest  winters  known  in 
Canada.^  The  snow  fell  so  heavily  in  the  thick  pine 
woods  of  Minnesota  that  Radisson  says  the  forest 
became  as  sombre  as  a  cellar.  The  colder  the  weather 
the  better  the  fur,  and,  presenting  gifts  to  insure  safe 
conduct,  Radisson  set  out  with  a  band  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Cree  hunters  for  the  Northwest.  They  trav- 
elled on  snow-shoes,  hunting  moose  on  the  way  and  sleep- 
ing at  night  round  a  camp-fire  under  the  stars.      League 

^  Lcttcn  of  Mark  dc  /'  Incarnation. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE         91 

after  league,  with  no  sound  through  the  deathly  white 
forest  but  the  soft  crunch-crunch  of  the  snow- 
shoes,  they  travelled  two  hundred  miles  toward 
what  is  now  Manitoba.  When  they  had  set  out, 
the  snow  was  like  a  cushion.  Now  it  becran  to  melt 
in  the  spring  sun,  and  clogged  the  snow-shoes  till  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  travel.  In  the  morning  the 
surface  was  glazed  ice,  and  they  could  march  without 
snow-shoes.  Spring  thaw  called  a  halt  to  their 
exploration.  The  Crees  encamped  for  three  weeks  to 
build  boats.  As  soon  as  the  ice  cleared,  the  band 
launched  back  down-stream  for  the  appointed  rendez- 
vous on  Green  Bay.  All  that  Radisson  learned  on 
this  trip  was  that  the  Bay  of  the  North  lay  much 
farther  from  Lake  Superior  than  the  old  Nipissing 
chief  had  told  Dreuillettes  and  Groseillers.^ 

Groseillers  had  all  in  readiness  to  depart  for  Quebec  ; 
and  five  hundred  Indians  from  the  Upper  Country 
had  come  together  to  go  down  the  Ottawa  and  St. 
Lawrence  with  the  explorers.  As  they  were  about 
to  embark,  coureurs  came  in  from  the  woods  with 
news  that  more  than  a  thousand  Iroquois  were  on  the 
war-path,  boasting  that  they  would  exterminate  the 
French.^  Somewhere  along  the  Ottawa  a  small  band 
of   Hurons  had  been  massacred.     The    Indians  with 

1  Jesuit  Relations,   1658. 

2  See  Marie  de  V  Incarnation,  Dollier  de  Casson,  and  Abbe  Belmont. 


92       PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

Groseillers  and  Radisson  were  terrified.  A  council  of 
the  elders  was  called. 

"  Brothers,  why  are  ye  so  foolish  as  to  put  your- 
selves in  the  hands  of  those  that  wait  for  you  ? " 
demanded  an  old  chief,  addressing  the  two  white  men. 
"  The  Iroquois  will  destroy  you  and  carry  you  away 
captive.  Will  you  have  your  brethren,  that  love  you, 
slain?  Who  will  baptize  our  children?"  (Radisson 
and  Groseillers  had  baptized  more  than  two  hundred 
children.^)  "  Stay  till  next  year !  Then  you  may 
freely  go  !  Our  mothers  will  send  their  children  to  be 
taught  in  the  way  of  the  Lord  !  " 

Fear  is  like  fire.  It  must  be  taken  in  the  beginning, 
or  it  spreads.  The  explorers  retired,  decided  on  a 
course  of  action,  and  requested  the  Indians  to  meet 
them  in  council  a  second  time.  Eight  hundred  warriors 
assembled,  seating  themselves  in  a  circle.  Radisson 
and  Groseillers  took  their  station  in  the  centre.'^ 

1  yesuit  Relations,   1660. 

2  It  may  be  well  to  state  as  nearly  as  possible  exactly  'zvhat  tribes  Radisson  had  met 
in  this  trip.  Those  rejoined  on  the  way  up  at  Manitoulin  Island  were  refugee  Hurons 
and  Ottawas.  From  the  Hurons,  Ottawas,  and  Algonquins  of  Green  Bay,  Radisson 
went  west  with  Pottowatomies ;  from  them  to  the  Escotecke  or  Sioux  of  the  Fire, 
namely  a  branch  of  the  Mascoutins.  From  these  Wisconsin  Mascoutins,  he  learns  of 
the  Nadoncccroron,  or  Sioux  proper,  and  of  the  Christines  or  Crees.  Going  west  with 
the  Mascoutins,  he  comes  to  "sedentary"  tribes.  Are  these  the  Mandans .''  He 
compares  this  country  to  Italy.  From  them  he  hears  of  white  men,  that  he  thinks 
may  be  Spaniards.  This  tribe  is  at  bitter  war  with  Sioux  and  Crees.  At  Green  Bay 
he  hears  of  the  Sautaux  in  war  with  Crees.  His  description  of  buffiilo  hunts  among  the 
Sioux  tallies  exactly  with  the  Pembina  hunts  of  a  later  day.  Oldmixon  says  that  it 
was  from  Crees  and  Assiniboines  visiting  at  Green  Bay  that  Radisson  learned  of  a  way 
overland  to  the  great  game  country  of  Hudson  Bay. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE 


93 


"  Who  am  I  ?  "  demanded  Groseillers,  hotly.  "  Am 
1  a  foe  or  a  friend  ?  If  a  foe,  why  did  you  suffer  me 
to  Hve  ?  If  a  friend,  listen  what  I  say  !  You  know 
that  we  risked  our  lives  for  you  !  If  we  have  no  cour- 
age, why  did  you  not  tell  us?  If  you  have  more  wit 
than  we,  why  did  you  not  use  it  to  defend  yourselves 
against  the  Iroquois  ?  How  can  you  defend  your 
wives  and  children  unless  you  get  arms  from  the 
French  !  " 

"  Fools,"  cried  Radisson,  striking  a  beaver  skin 
across  an  Indian's  shoulder,  "  will  you  fight  the  Iro- 
quois with  beaver  pelts  ?  Do  you  not  know  the 
French  way  ?  We  fight  with  guns,  not  robes.  The 
Iroquois  will  cooj.)  you  up  here  till  you  have  used  all 
your  powder,  and  then  despatch  you  with  ease  !  Shall 
your  children  be  slaves  because  you  are  cowards  ?  Do 
what  you  will !  For  my  part  I  choose  to  die  like  a 
man  rather  than  live  like  a  beggar.  Take  back  your 
beaver  robes.  We  can  live  without  you  —  "  and  the 
white  men  strode  out  from   the  council. 

Consternation  reigned  among  the  Indians.  There 
was  an  uproar  of  argument.  For  six  days  the  fate  of  the 
white  men  hung  fire.  Finally  the  chiefs  sent  word  that 
the  five  hundred  young  warriors  would  go  to  Quebec 
with  the  white  men.  Radisson  did  not  give  their  ardor 
time  to  cool.  They  embarked  at  once.  The  fleet  of 
canoes  crossed  the  head  of  the  lakes  and  came  to  the 


94        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Upper  Ottawa  without  adventure.  Scouts  went  ahead 
to  all  the  portages^  and  great  care  was  taken  to  avoid 
an  ambush  when  passing  overland.  Below  the  Chau- 
diere  Falls  the  scouts  reported  that  four  Iroquois 
boats  had  crossed  the  river.  Again  Radisson  did  not 
give  time  for  fear.  He  sent  the  lightest  boats  in  pur- 
suit ;  and  while  keeping  the  enemy  thus  engaged  with 
half  his  own  company  on  guard  at  the  ends  of  the  long 
portage,  he  hurriedly  got  cargoes  and  canoes  across  the 
landing.  The  Iroquois  had  fled.  By  that  Radisson 
knew  they  were  weak.  Somewhere  along  the  Long 
Sault  Rapids,  the  scouts  saw  sixteen  Iroquois  canoes. 
The  Indians  would  have  thrown  down  their  goods 
and  fled,  but  Radisson  instantly  got  his  forces  in  hand 
and  held  them  with  a  grip  of  steel.  Distributing 
loaded  muskets  to  the  bravest  warriors,  he  pursued  the 
Iroquois  with  a  picked  company  of  Hurons,  Algon- 
quins,  Sautaux,  and  Sioux.  Beating  their  paddles, 
Radisson's  company  shouted  the  war-cry  till  the  hills 
rang ;  but  all  the  warriors  were  careful  not  to  waste  an 
ounce  of  powder  till  within  hitting  range.  The  Iro- 
quois were  not  used  to  this  sort  of  defence.  They 
fled.  The  Long  Sault  was  always  the  most  dangerous 
part  of  the  Ottawa.  Radisson  kept  scouts  to  rear  and 
fore,  but  the  Iroquois  had  deserted  their  boats  and 
were  hanging  on  the  flanks  of  the  company  to  attempt 
an   ambush.      It    was  apparent    that  a  fort    had    been 


RADISSON'S   THIRD    VOYAGE 


95 


erected  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids.  Leaving  half  the 
band  in  their  boats,  Radisson  marched  overland  with 
two  hundred  warriors.  Iroquois  shots  spattered  from 
each  side  ;  but  the  Huron  muskets  kept  the  assailants 
at  a  distance,  and  those  of  Radisson's  warriors  who 
had  not  guns  were  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  and 
wore  a  shield  of  buffalo  skin  dried  hard  as  metal. 
The  Iroquois  rushed  for  the  barricade  at  the  foot  of 


Voyageurs  running  the  Rapids  of  the  Ottawa  River. 

the  Sault.  Five  of  them  were  picked  off  as  they  ran. 
For  a  moment  the  Iroquois  were  out  of  cover,  and 
their  weakness  was  betrayed.  They  had  only  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  while  Radisson  had  five  hun- 
dred ;  but  the  odds  would  not  long  be  in  his  favor. 
Ammunition  was  running  out,  and  the  enemy  must  be 
dislodged  without  wasting  a  shot.  Radisson  called  back 
encouragement  to  his  followers.  They  answered  with  a 
shout.     Tying  the  beaver  pelts  in  great   bundles,  the 


96        PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Indians  rolled  the  fur  in  front  nearer  and  nearer  the  Iro- 
quois boats,  keeping  under  shelter  from  the  shots  of  the 
fort.  The  Iroquois  must  either  lose  their  boats  and  be 
cut  off  from  escape,  or  retire  from  the  fort.  It  was  not 
necessary  for  Radisson's  warriors  to  fire  a  shot.  Aban- 
doning even  their  baggage  and  glad  to  get  off  with 
their  lives,  the  Iroquois  dashed  to  save  their  boats. 

A  terrible  spectacle  awaited  Radisson  inside  the 
enclosure  of  the  palisades.^  The  scalps  of  dead 
Indians  flaunted  from  the  pickets.  Not  a  tree  but 
was  spattered  with  bullet  marks  as  with  bird  shot. 
Here  and  there  burnt  holes  gaped  in  the  stock- 
ades like  wounds.  Outside  along  the  river  bank  lay 
the  charred  bones  of  captives  who  had  been  burned. 
The  scarred  fort  told  its  own  tale.  Here  refugees 
had  been  penned  up  by  the  Iroquois  till  thirst  and 
starvation  did  their  work.  In  the  clay  a  hole  had 
been  dug  for  water  by  the  parched  victims,  and  the 
ooze  through  the  mud  eagerly  scooped  up.  Only 
when  he  reached  Montreal  did  Radisson  learn  the 
story  of  the  dismantled  fort.  The  rumor  carried  to 
the  explorers  on  Lake  Michigan  of  a  thousand    Iro- 

1  There  is  a  mistake  in  Radisson's  account  here,  which  is  easily  checked  by  con- 
temporaneous accounts  of  Marie  de  T Incarnation  and  Dollier  de  Casson.  Radisson 
describes  Dollard's  fight  during  his  fourth  trip  in  1664,  when  it  is  quite  plain  that 
he  means  1660.  The  fight  has  been  so  thoroughly  described  by  Mr.  Parkman,  who 
drew  his  material  from  the  two  authorities  mentioned,  and  the  yesuit  Relations,  that 
I  do  not  give  it  in  detail.  1  give  a  brief  account  of  Radisson's  description  of  the 
tragedy. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE         97 

quois  going  on  the  war-path  to  exterminate  the 
French  had  been  only  too  true.  Half  the  warriors 
were  to  assault  Quebec,  half  to  come  down  on  Mon- 
treal from  the  Ottawa.  One  thing  only  could  save 
the  French  —  to  keep  the  bands  apart.  Those  on  the 
Ottawa  had  been  hunting  all  winter  and  must  necessa- 
rily be  short  of  powder.  To  intercept  them,  a  gallant 
band  of  seventeen  French,  four  Algonquins,  and  sixty 
Hurons  led  by  Dollard  took  their  stand  at  the  Long 
Sault.  The  French  and  their  Indian  allies  were  boil- 
ing their  kettles  when  two  hundred  Iroquois  broke 
from  the  woods.  There  was  no  time  to  build  a  fort. 
Leaving  their  food,  Dollard  and  his  men  threw  them- 
selves into  the  rude  palisades  which  Indians  had 
erected  the  previous  year.  The  Iroquois  kept  up  a 
constant  fire  and  sent  for  reenforcements  of  six  hun- 
dred warriors,  who  were  on  the  Richelieu.  In  defiance 
the  Indians  fighting  for  the  French  sallied  out,  scalped 
the  fallen  Iroquois,  and  hoisted  the  sanguinary  trophies 
on  long  poles  above  the  pickets.  The  enraged  Iro- 
quois redoubled  their  fury.  The  fort  was  too  small 
to  admit  all  the  Hurons  ;  and  when  the  Iroquois  came 
up  from  the  Richelieu  with  Huron  renegades  among 
their  warriors,  the  Hurons  deserted  their  French  allies 
and  went  over  in  a  body  to  the  enemy.  For  two 
days  the  French  had  fought  against  two  hundred 
Iroquois.       For  five  more  days   they  fought    against 


98        PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

eight  hundred.  "  The  worst  of  it  was,"  relates  Rad- 
isson,  "  the  French  had  no  water,  as  we  plainly  saw  ; 
for  they  had  made  a  hole  in  the  ground  out  of  which 
they  could  get  but  little  because  the  fort  was  on  a 
hill.  It  was  pitiable.  There  was  not  a  tree  but  what 
was  shot  with  bullets.  The  Iroquois  had  rushed  to 
make  a  breach  (in  the  wall).  .  .  .  The  French  set  fire 
to  a  barrel  of  powder  to  drive  the  Iroquois  back  .  .  . 
but  it  fell  inside  the  fort.  .  .  .  Upon  this,  the  Iro- 
quois entered  ...  so  that  not  one  of  the  French 
escaped.  ...  It  was  terrible  .  .  .  for  we  came  there 
eight  days  after  the  defeat."  ^ 

Without  a  doubt  it  was  Bollard's  splendid  fight  that 
put  fear  in  the  hearts  of  the  Iroquois  who  fled  before 
Radisson.  The  passage  to  Montreal  was  clear.  The 
boats  ran  the  rapids  without  unloading  ;  but  Groseil- 
lers  almost  lost  his  life.  His  canoe  caught  on  a  rock 
in  midstream,  but  righting  herself  shot  down  safely  to 
the  landing  with  no  greater  loss  than  a  damaged  keel. 
I'he  next  day,  after  two  years'  absence,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  arrived  at  Montreal.  A  brief  stop  was 
made  at  Three  Rivers  for  rest  till  twenty  citizens  had 

1  It  will  be  noticed  that  Radisson's  account  of  the  battle  at  the  Long  Sault  —  which 
I  have  given  in  his  own  words  as  far  as  possible  —  ditfers  in  details  from  the  only  other 
accounts  written  by  contemporaries  ;  namely,  Marie  de  T  Incarnation,  Dollier  de  Casson, 
the  Abbe  Belmont,  and  the  Jesuits.  All  these  must  have  wrirtcn  from  hearsay,  for 
they  were  at  Quebec  and  Montreal.  Radisson  was  on  the  spot  a  week  after  the 
tragedy;  so  that  his  account  may  be  supposed  to  be  as  accurate  as  any. 


RADISSON'S    THIRD    VOYAGE 


99 


fitted  out  two  shallops  with  cannon  to  escort  the  dis- 
coverers in  fitting  pomp  to  Quebec.  As  the  fleet  of 
canoes  glided  round  Cape  Diamond,  battery  and  bas- 
tion thundered  a  welcome.  Welcome  they  were,  and 
thrice  welcome  ;  for  so  ceaseless  had  been  the  Iroquois 
wars  that  the  three  French  ships  lying  at  anchor  would 
have  returned  to  France  without  a  single  beaver  skin 
if  the  explorers  had  not  come.  Citizens  shouted  from 
the  terraced  heights  of  Chateau  St.  Louis,  and  bells 
rang  out  the  joy  of  all  New  France  over  the  discov- 
erers' return.  For  a  week  Radisson  and  Groseillers 
were  feted.  Viscomte  d'Argenson,  the  new  governor, 
presented  them  with  gifts  and  sent  two  brigantines  to 
carry  them  home  to  Three  Rivers.  There  they  rested 
for  the  remainder  of  the  year,  Groseillers  at  his  seign- 
iory with  his  wife.  Marguerite;  Radisson,  under  the 
parental  roof.^ 

1  Mr.  Benjamin  Suite  states  that  the  explorers  wintered  on  Green  Bay,  1658-1659, 
then  visited  the  tribes  between  Milwaukee  and  the  river  Wisconsin  in  the  spring  of 
1659.  Here  they  learn  of  the  Sioux  and  the  Crees.  They  push  southwest  first,  where 
they  see  the  Mississippi  between  April  and  July,  1659.  Thence  they  come  back 
to  the  Sault.  Then  they  winter,  1 659-1 660,  among  the  Sioux.  I  have  not 
attempted  to  give  the  dates  of  the  itinerary  ;  because  it  would  be  a  matter  of  speculation 
open  to  contradiction  5  but  if  we  accept  Radisson's  account  at  all  —  and  that  account 
is  corroborated  by  writers  contemporaneous  with  him  —  we  must  then  accept  his 
account  of  -where  he  went,  and  not  the  casual  guesses  of  modern  writers  who  have 
given  his  journal  one  hurried  reading,  and  then  sat  down,  without  consulting  docu- 
ments contemporaneous  with  Radisson,  to  inform  the  world  of  tuhere  he  went. 
Because  this  is  such  a  very  sore  point  with  two  or  three  western  historical  societies,  I 
beg  to  state  the  reasons  why  I  have  set  down  Radisson's  itinerary  as  much  farther  west 
than  has  been  generally  believed,  though  how  *ar  west  he  went  does  not  efface  the  main 


loo     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

and  essential  fact  that  Radisson  ivas  the  true  disco'verer  of  the  Great  Northiveit. 
For  that,  let  us  give  him  a  belated  credit  and  not  obscure  the  feat  by  disputes. 
(i)  The  term  "Forked  River"  referred  to  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  not  the 
Wisconsin  and  Mississippi.  (2)  No  other  rivers  in  that  region  are  to  be  compared 
to  the  Ottawa  and  St.  Lawrence  but  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi.  (3)  The  Mascou- 
tins,  or  People  of  the  Fire,  among  whom  Radisson  found  himself  when  he  descended 
the  Wisconsin  from  Green  Bay,  conducted  him  westward  only  as  far  as  the  tribes  allied  to 
them,  the  Mascoutins  of  the  Missouri  or  Nebraska.  Hence,  Radisson  going  west-north- 
west to  the  Sioux — as  he  says  he  did — must  have  skirted  much  farther  west  than 
Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  (4)  His  descriptions  of  the  Indians  who  knew  tribes  in 
trade  with  the  Spaniards  must  refer  to  the  Indians  south  of  the  Big  Bend  of  the 
Missouri.  (5)  His  description  of  the  climate  refers  to  the  same  region.  (6)  The 
Jesuit  Relations  confirm  beyond  all  doubt  that  he  was  among  the  main  body  of  the 
great  Sioux  Confederacy.  (7)  Both  his  and  the  Jesuit  reference  is  to  the  treeless 
prairie,  which  does  not  apply  to  the  wooded  lake  regions  of  eastern  Minnesota  or 
northern  Wisconsin. 

To  me,  it  is  simply  astounding  —  and  that  is  putting  it  mildly  —  that  any  one  pre- 
tending to  have  read  Radisson'' s  Journal  can  accuse  him  of  "claiming"  to  have 
"descended  to  the  salt  sea  "  (Gulf  of  Mexico).  Radisson  makes  no  such  claim  ;  and 
to  accuse  him  of  such  is  like  building  a  straw  enemy  for  the  sake  of  knocking  him 
down,  or  stirring  up  muddy  waters  to  make  them  look  deep.  The  exact  words  of 
Radisson's  narrative  are  :  "  We  went  into  ye  great  river  that  divides  itself  in  2,  where 
the  hurrons  with  some  Ottauake  .  .  .  had  retired.  .  .  .  This  nation  have  warrs 
against  those  of  the  Forked  River  ...  so  called  because  it  has  2  branches  the  one 
towards  the  west,  the  other  towards  the  South,  wch.  we  believe  runns  towards  Mexico, 
by  the  tokens  they  gave  us  .  .  .  they  told  us  the  prisoners  they  take  tells  them  that 
they  have  warrs  against  a  nation  .  .  .  that  have  great  beards  and  such  knives  as  we 
have"  .  .  .  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  .  .  .  "which  made  us  believe  they  were  Europeans." 
This  statement  is  no  claim  that  Radisson  went  to  Mexico,  but  only  that  he  met  tribes 
who  knew  tribes  trading  with  Spaniards  of  Mexico.  And  yet,  on  the  careless 
reading  of  this  statement,  one  historian  brands  Radisson  as  a  liar  for  "  having  claimed 
he  went  to  Mexico."  The  thing  would  be  comical  in  its  impudence  if  it  were  not  that 
many  such  misrepresentations  of  what  Radisson  wrote  have  dimmed  the  glory  of  his 
real  achievements. 


CHAPTER   IV 

1661-1664 

RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE 

The  Success  of  the  Explorers  arouses  Envy  —  It  becomes  known 
that  they  have  heard  of  the  Famous  Sea  of  the  North  —  When 
they  ask  Permission  to  resume  their  Explorations,  the  French  Gov- 
ernor refuses  except  on  Condition  of  receiving  Half  the  Profits  —  In 
Defiance,  the  Explorers  steal  off  at  Midnight  —  They  return  with 
a  Fortune  and  are  driven  from  New  France 

Radisson  was  not  yet  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and 
his  explorations  of  the  Great  Northwest  had  won 
him  both  fame  and  fortune.  As  Spain  sought  gold 
in  the  New  Word,  so  France  sought  precious  furs. 
Furs  were  the  only  possible  means  of  wealth  to  the 
French  colony,  and  for  ten  years  the  fur  trade  had 
languished  owing  to  the  Iroquois  wars.  For  a  year 
after  the  migration  of  the  Hurons  to  Onondaga,  not  a 
single  beaver  skin  was  brought  to  Montreal.  Then 
began  the  annual  visits  of  the  Indians  from  the  Upper 
Country  to  the  forts  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Sweeping 
down  the  northern  rivers  like  wild-fowl,  in  far-spread, 
desultory  flocks,  came  the    Indians  of  the  Pays  d'en 


I02      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Haut.  Down  the  Ottawa  to  Montreal,  down  the  St. 
Maurice  to  Three  Rivers,  down  the  Saguenay  and 
round  to  Quebec,  came  the  treasure-craft,  —  light  fleets 
of  birch  canoes  laden  to  the  water-line  with  beaver 
skins.  Whence  came  the  wealth  that  revived  the  lan- 
guishing trade  of  New  France  ?  From  a  vague,  far 
Eldorado  somewhere  round  a  sea  in  the  North.  Hud- 
son had  discovered  this  sea  half  a  century  before 
Radisson's  day ;  Jean  Bourdon,  a  Frenchman,  had 
coasted  up  Labrador  in  1657  seeking  the  Bay  of 
the  North  ;  and  on  their  last  trip  the  explorers  had 
learned  from  the  Crees  who  came  through  the  dense 
forests  of  the  hinterland  that  there  lay  round  this  Bay 
of  the  North  a  vast  country  with  untold  wealth  of 
furs.  The  discovery  of  a  route  overland  to  the  north 
sea  was  to  become  the  lodestar  of  Radisson's  life.^ 

"  We  considered  whether  to  reveal  what  we  had 
learned,"  explains  Radisson,  "  for  we  had  not  been  in 
the  Bay  of  the  North,  knowing  only  what  the  Crees 
told  us.  We  wished  to  discover  it  ourselves  and  have 
assurance  before  revealing  anything."  But  the  secret 
leaked  out.      Either  Groseillers  told  his  wife,  or  the 


1  The  childish  dispute  whether  Bourdon  sailed  into  the  bay  and  up  to  its  head,  or 
only  to  50*^  N.  latitude,  does  not  concern  Radisson's  life,  and,  therefore,  is  ignored. 
One  thing  I  can  state  with  absolute  certainty  from  having  been  up  the  coast  of  Labra- 
dor in  a  most  inclement  season,  that  Bourdon  could  not  possibly  have  gone  to  and  back 
from  the  inner  waters  of  Hudson  Bay  between  May  2  and  August  11.  J.  Edmond 
Roy  and  Mr.  Suite  both  pronounce  Bourdon  a  mytli,  and  his  trip  a  fabrication. 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      103 

Jesuits  got  wind  of  the  news  from  the  Indians  ;  for  it 
was  announced  from  Quebec  that  two  priests,  young 
La  Valliere,  the  son  of  the  governor  at  Three  Rivers, 
six  other  Frenchmen,  and  some  Indians  would  set  out 
for  the  Bay  of  the  North  up  the  Saguenay.  Radisson 
was  invited  to  join  the  company  as  a  guide.  Needless 
to  say  that  a  man  who  had  already  discovered  the 
Great  Northwest  and  knew  the  secret  of  the  road  to 
the  North,  refused  to  play  a  second  part  among  ama- 
teur explorers.  Radisson  promptly  declined.  Never- 
theless, in  May,  1661,  the  Jesuits,  Gabriel  Dreuillettes 
and  Claude  Dablon,  accompanied  by  Couture,  La  Val- 
liere, and  three  others,  set  out  with  Indian  guides  for 
the  discovery  of  Hudson's  Bay  by  land.  On  June  i 
they  began  to  ascend  the  Saguenay,  pressing  through 
vast  solitudes  below  the  sombre  precipices  of  the  river. 
The  rapids  were  frequent,  the  heat  was  terrific,  and 
the  portages  arduous.  Owing  to  the  obstinacy  of  the 
guides,  the  French  were  stopped  north  of  Lake  St. 
John.  Here  the  priests  established  a  mission,  and 
messengers  were  sent  to  Quebec  for  instructions. 

Meanwhile,  Radisson  and  Groseillers  saw  that  no 
time  must  be  lost.  If  they  would  be  first  in  the 
North,  as  they  had  been  first  in  the  West,  they 
must  set  out  at  once.  Two  Indian  guides  from 
the  Upper  Country  chanced  to  be  in  Montreal. 
Groseillers  secured  them   by  bringing  both  to  Three 


I04     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

Rivers.  Then  the  explorers  formally  applied  to  the 
French  governor,  D'Avaugour,  for  permission  to  go  on 
the  voyage  of  discovery.  New  France  regulated  the 
fur  trade  by  license.  Imprisonment,  the  galleys  for 
life,  even  death  on  a  second  offence,  were  the  punish- 
ments of  those  who  traded  without  a  license.  The 
governor's  answer  revealed  the  real  animus  behind 
his  enthusiasm  for  discovery.  He  would  give  the 
explorers  a  license  if  they  would  share  half  the  profits 
of  the  trip  with  him  and  take  along  two  of  his  ser- 
vants as  auditors  of  the  returns.  One  can  imagine  the 
indignation  of  the  dauntless  explorers  at  this  answer. 
Their  cargo  of  furs  the  preceding  year  had  saved  New 
France  from  bankruptcy.  Offering  to  venture  their 
lives  a  second  time  for  the  extension  of  the  French 
domain,  they  were  told  they  might  do  so  if  they  would 
share  half  the  profits  with  an  avaricious  governor. 
Their  answer  was  characteristic.  Discoverers  were 
greater  than  governors  ;  still,  if  the  Indians  of  the 
Upper  Country  invited  his  Excellency,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  would  be  glad  to  have  the  honor  of  his  com- 
pany ;  as  for  his  servants —  men  who  went  on  voyages 
of  discovery  had  to  act  as  both  masters  and  servants. 

D'Avaugour  was  furious.  He  issued  orders  for- 
bidding the  explorers  to  leave  Three  Rivers  without 
his  express  permission.  Raciisson  and  Groseillers 
knew    the    penalties    of   ignoring    this    order.       They 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE 


105 


asked  the  Jesuits  to  intercede  for  them.  Though 
Gareau  had  been  slain  trying  to  ascend  the  Ottawa  and 
Father  Menard  had  by  this  time  preached  in  the 
forests  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  Jesuits  had  made  no 
great  discoveries  in  the  Northwest.  All  they  got  for 
their  intercessions  was  a  snub.^ 

While  messages  were  still  passing  between  the  gov- 
ernor and  the  explorers,  there  swept  down  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  Three  Rivers  seven  canoes  of  Indians 
from  the  Upper  Country,  asking  for  Radisson  and 
Groseillers.  The  explorers  were  honorable  to  a 
degree.  They  notified  the  governor  of  Quebec  that 
they  intended  to  embark  with  the  Indians.  D'Avau- 
gour  stubbornly  ordered  the  Indians  to  await  the  return 
of  his  party  from  the  Saguenay.  The  Indians  made 
off  to  hide  in  the  rushes  of  Lake  St.  Peter.  The 
sympathy  of  Three  Rivers  was  with  the  explorers. 
Late  one  night  in  August  Radisson  and  Groseillers  — 
who  was  captain  of  the  soldiers  and  carried  the  keys 
of  the  fort  —  slipped  out  from  the  gates,  with  a  third 
Frenchman  called  Lariviere.  As  they  stepped  into 
their  canoe,  the  sentry  demanded,  "  Who  goes  ?  " 

"  Groseillers,"  came  the  answer  through  the  dark. 

"  God  give  you  a  good  voyage,  sir,"  called  the 
sentry,  faithful  to  his  captain  rather  than  the  governor. 

1  "  shame  put  upon  them,"  says  Radisson.  Menard  did  tiot  go  out  with  Radisson 
and  Groseillers,  as  is  erroneously  recorded. 


io6     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

The  skiff  pushed  out  on  the  lapping  tide.  A  bend 
in  the  river  —  and  the  lights  of  the  fort  glimmering  in 
long  lines  across  the  water  had  vanished  behind.  The 
prow  of  Radisson's  boat  was  once  more  heading  up- 
stream for  the  Unknown.  Paddling  with  all  swiftness 
through  the  dark,  the  three  Frenchmen  had  come  to 
the  rushes  of  Lake  St.  Peter  before  daybreak.  No 
Indians  could  be  found.  Men  of  softer  mettle  might 
have  turned  back.  Not  so  Radisson.  "  We  were 
well-armed  and  had  a  good  boat,"  he  relates,  "  so  we 
resolved  to  paddle  day  and  night  to  overtake  the 
Indians."  At  the  west  end  of  the  lake  they  came  up 
with  the  north-bound  canoes.  For  three  days  and 
nights  they  pushed  on  without  rest.  Naturally, 
Radisson  did  not  pause  to  report  progress  at  Montreal. 
Game  was  so  plentiful  in  the  surrounding  forests  that 
Iroquois  hunters  were  always  abroad  in  the  regions  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  Ottawa.^  Once  they  heard 
guns.  Turning  a  bend  in  the  river,  they  discovered 
five  Iroquois  boats,  just  in  time  to  avoid  them.  That 
night  the  Frenchman,  Lariviere,  dreamed  that  he  had 
been  captured  by  the  Mohawks,  and  he  shouted  out  in 

^  I  have  purposely  avoided  stating  whether  Radisson  went  by  way  of  Lake  Ontario 
or  the  Ottawa.  Dr.  Dionne  thinks  that  he  went  by  Ontario  and  Niagara  because 
Radisson  refers  to  vast  waterfalls  under  which  a  man  could  walk.  Radisson  gives  the 
height  of  these  falls  as  forty  feet.  Niagara  are  nearer  three  hundred ;  and  the  Chaudiere 
of  the  Ottawa  would  answer  Radisson's  description  better,  were  it  not  that  he  says  a  man 
could  go  under  the  falls  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  "  The  Lake  of  the  Castors  "  plainly 
points  to  Lake  Nipissing. 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      107 

such  terror  that  the  alarmed  Indians  rushed  to  embark. 
The  next  day  they  again  came  on  the  trail  of  Iroquois. 
The  frightened  Indians  from  the  Upper  Country 
shouldered  their  canoes  and  dashed  through  the 
woods.  Lariviere  could  not  keep  up  and  was  afraid 
to  go  back  from  the  river  lest  he  should  lose  his  bear- 
ings. Fighting  his  way  over  windfall  and  rock,  he 
sank  exhausted  and  fell  asleep.  Far  ahead  of  the 
Iroquois  boats  the  Upper  Country  Indians  came 
together  again.  The  Frenchman  was  nowhere  to  be 
found.  It  was  dark.  The  Indians  would  not  wait  to 
search.  Radisson  and  Groseillers  dared  not  turn  back 
to  face  the  irate  governor.  Lariviere  was  abandoned. 
Two  weeks  afterwards  some  French  hunters  found 
him  lying  on  the  rocks  almost  dead  from  starvation. 
He  was  sent  back  to  Three  Rivers,  where  D'Avaugour 
had  him  imprisoned.  This  outrage  the  inhabitants 
of  Three  Rivers  resented.  They  forced  the  jail  and 
rescued  Lariviere. 

Three  days  after  the  loss  of  Lariviere  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  caught  up  with  seven  more  canoes  of 
Indians  from  the  Upper  Country.  The  union  of  the 
two  bands  was  just  in  time,  for  the  next  day  they 
were  set  upon  at  a  portage  by  the  Iroquois.  Order- 
ing the  Indians  to  encase  themselves  in  bucklers  of 
matting  and  buffalo  hide,  Radisson  led  the  assault  on 
the    Iroquois   barricade.     Trees  were  cut    down,   and 


io8     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

the  Upper  Indians  rushed  the  rude  fort  with  timbers 
extemporized  into  battering-rams.  In  close  range  of 
the  enemy,  Radisson  made  a  curious  discovery. 
Frenchmen  were  directing  the  Iroquois  warriors. 
Who  had  sent  these  French  to  intercept  the  ex- 
plorers ?      If  Radisson  suspected  treachery  on  the  part 


"s  I  «   B   «  » 


Chateau  St.  Louis,  Quebec,   1669,  from  one  of  the  oldest  prints  in 
existence. 


of  jealous  rivals  from  Quebec,  it  must  have  redoubled 
his  fury;  for  the  Indians  from  the  Upper  Country  threw 
themselves  in  the  breached  barricade  with  such  force 
that  the  Iroquois  lost  heart  and  tossed  belts  of  wampum 
over  the  stockades  to  supplicate  peace.  It  was  almost 
night.  Radisson's  Indians  drew  off  to  consider  the 
terms    of  peace.     When    morning    came,    behold    an 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      109 

empty  fort  !  The  French  renegades  had  fled  with 
their   Indian  alHes. 

Glad  to  be  rid  of  the  first  hindrance,  the  explorers 
once  more  sped  north.  In  the  afternoon,  Radisson's 
scouts  ran  full  tilt  into  a  band  of  Iroquois  laden  with 
beaver  pelts.  The  Iroquois  were  smarting  from  their 
defeat  of  the  previous  night ;  and  what  was  Radisson's 
amusement  to  see  his  own  scouts  and  the  Iroquois 
running  from  each  other  in  equal  fright,  while  the 
ground  between  lay  strewn  with  booty !  Radisson 
rushed  his  Indians  for  the  waterside  to  intercept  the 
Iroquois'  flight.  The  Iroquois  left  their  boats  and 
swam  for  the  opposite  shore,  where  they  threw  up  the 
usual  barricade  and  entrenched  themselves  to  shoot  on 
Radisson's  passing  canoes.  Using  the  captured  beaver 
pelts  as  shields,  the  Upper  Indians  ran  the  gantlet 
of  the  Iroquois  fire  with  the  loss  of  only  one  man. 

The  slightest  defeat  may  turn  well-ordered  retreat 
into  panic.  If  the  explorers  went  on,  the  Iroquois 
would  hang  to  the  rear  of  the  travelling  Indians  and 
pick  oflf  warriors  till  the  Upper  Country  people  became 
so  weakened  they  would  fall  an  easy  prey.  Not  flight, 
but  fight,  was  Radisson's  motto.  He  ordered  his  men 
ashore  to  break  up  the  barricade.  Darkness  fell 
over  the  forest.  The  Iroquois  could  not  see  to  fire. 
"They  spared  not  their  powder,"  relates  Radisson, 
"but  they  made  more  noise  than  hurt."     Attaching  a 


no     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

fuse  to  a  barrel  of  powder,  Radisson  threw  this  over 
into  the  Iroquois  fort.  The  crash  of  the  explosion 
was  followed  by  a  blaze  of  the  Iroquois  musketry  that 
killed  three  of  Radisson's  men.  Radisson  then  tore 
the  bark  off"  a  birch  tree,  filled  the  bole  with  powder, 
and  in  the  darkness  crept  close  to  the  Iroquois  barri- 
cade and  set  fire  to  the  logs.  Red  tongues  of  fire 
leaped  up,  there  was  a  roar  as  of  wind,  and  the 
Iroquois  fort  was  on  fire.  Radisson's  men  dashed 
through  the  fire,  hatchet  in  hand.  The  Iroquois  an- 
swered with  their  death  chant.  Friend  and  foe  merged 
in  the  smoke  and  darkness.  "  We  could  not  know 
one  another  in  that  skirmish  of  blows,"  says  Radisson. 
"There  was  noise  to  terrify  the  stoutest  man."  In 
the  midst  of  the  melee  a  frightful  storm  of  thunder 
and  sheeted  rain  rolled  over  the  forest.  "  To  my 
mind,"  writes  the  disgusted  Radisson,  "  that  was  some- 
thing extraordinary.  I  think  the  Devil  himself  sent 
that  storm  to  let  those  wretches  escape,  so  that  they 
might  destroy  more  innocents."  The  rain  put  out  the 
fire.  As  soon  as  the  storm  had  passed,  Radisson  kin- 
dled torches  to  search  for  the  missing.  Three  of  his 
men  were  slain,  seven  wounded.  Of  the  enemy,  eleven 
lay  dead,  five  were  prisoners.  The  rest  of  the  Iro- 
quois had  fled  to  the  forest.  The  Upper  Indians 
burned  their  prisoners  according  to  their  custom,  and 
the   night  was   passed   in   mad  orgies   to  celebrate  the 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      iii 

victory.  "  The  sleep  we  took  did  not  make  our  heads 
giddy,"  writes  Radisson. 

The  next  day  they  encountered  more  Iroquois. 
Both  sides  at  once  began  building  forts  ;  but  when  he 
could,  Radisson  always  avoided  war.  Having  gained 
victory  enough  to  hold  the  Iroquois  in  check,  he 
wanted  no  massacre.  That  night  he  embarked  his 
men  noiselessly  ;  and  never  once  stopping  to  kindle 
camp-fire,  they  paddled  from  Friday  night  to  Tuesday 
morning.  The  portages  over  rocks  in  the  dark  cut 
the  voyageurs'  moccasins  to  shreds.  Every  landing 
was  marked  with  the  blood  of  bruised  feet.  Some- 
times they  avoided  leaving  any  trace  of  themselves 
by  walking  in  the  stream,  dragging  their  boats  along 
the  edge  of  the  rapids.  By  Tuesday  the  Indians 
were  so  fagged  that  they  could  go  no  farther  without 
rest.  Canoes  were  moored  in  the  hiding  of  the  rushes 
till  the  voyageurs  slept.  They  had  been  twenty-two 
days  going  from  Three  Rivers  to  Lake  Nipissing,  and 
had  not  slept  one  hour  on  land. 

It  was  October  when  they  came  to  Lake  Superior. 
The  forests  were  painted  in  all  the  glory  of  autumn, 
and  game  abounded.  White  fish  appeared  under  the 
clear,  still  waters  of  the  lake  like  shoals  of  floating 
metal ;  bears  were  seen  hulking  away  from  the  water- 
ing places  of  sandy  shores  ;  and  wild  geese  whistled 
overhead.     After  the  terrible  dangers  of  the  voyage, 


112     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

with  scant  sleep  and  scanter  fare,  the  country  seemed, 
as  Radisson  says,  a  terrestrial  paradise.  The  Indians 
gave  solemn  thanks  to  their  gods  of  earth  and  forest, 
"  and  we,"  writes  Radisson,  "  to  the  God  of  gods." 
Indian  summer  lay  on  the  land.  November  found  the 
explorers  coasting  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior. 
They  passed  the  Island  of  Michilimackinac  with  its 
stone  arches.  Radisson  heard  from  the  Indians  of  the 
copper  mines.  He  saw  the  pictured  rocks  that  were  to 
become  famous  for  beauty.  "  I  gave  it  the  name  of  St. 
Peter  because  that  was  my  name  and  I  was  the  first 
Christian  to  see  it,"  he  writes  of  the  stone  arch. 
"  There  were  in  these  places  very  deep  caves,  caused 
by  the  violence  of  the  waves."  Jesuits  had  been  on 
the  part  of  Lake  Superior  near  the  Sault,  and  poor 
Menard  perished  in  the  forests  of  Lake  Michigan; 
but  Radisson  and  Groseillers  were  the  first  white  men 
to  cruise  from  south  to  west  and  west  to  north, 
where  a  chain  of  lakes  and  waterways  leads  from  the 
Minnesota  lake  country  to  the  prairies  now  known  as 
Manitoba.  Before  the  end  of  November  the  explor- 
ers rounded  the  western  end  of  Lake  Superior  and 
proceeded  northwest.  Radisson  records  that  they 
came  to  great  winter  encampments  of  the  Crees ;  and 
the  Crees  did  not  venture  east  for  fear  of  Sautaux 
and  Iroquois.  He  mentions  a  river  of  Sturgeons, 
where  was  a  great  store  of  fish. 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      113 

The  Crees  wished  to  conduct  the  two  white  men  to 
the  wooded  lake  region,  northwest  towards  the  land 
of  the  Assiniboines,  where  Indian  families  took 
refuge  on  islands  from  those  tigers  of  the  plains  —  the 
Sioux  —  who  were  invincible  on  horseback  but  less 
skilful  in  canoes.  The  rivers  were  beginning  to  freeze. 
Boats  were  abandoned  ;  but  there  was  no  snow  for 
snow-shoe  travelling,  and  the  explorers  were  unable  to 
transport  the  goods  brought  for  trade.  Bidding  the 
Crees  go  to  their  families  and  bring  back  slaves  to  carry 
the  baggage,  Radisson  and  Groseillers  built  themselves 
the  first  fort  and  the  first  fur  post  between  the  Missouri 
and  the  North  Pole.  It  was  evidently  somewhere 
west  of  Duluth  in  either  what  is  now  Minnesota  or 
northwestern  Ontario. 

This  fur  post  was  the  first  habitation  of  civilization 
in  all  the  Great  Northwest.  Not  the  railway,  not 
the  cattle  trail,  not  the  path  of  forward-marching 
empire  purposely  hewing  a  way  through  the  wilder- 
ness, opened  the  West.  It  was  the  fur  trade  that 
found  the  West.  It  was  the  fur  trade  that  explored 
the  West.  It  was  the  fur  trade  that  wrested  the 
West  from  savagery.  The  beginning  was  in  the 
little  fort  built  by  Radisson  and  Groseillers.  No  great 
factor  in  human  progress  ever  had  a  more  insignificant 
beginning. 


114     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

The  fort  was  rushed  up  by  two  men  almost  starving 
for  food.  It  was  on  the  side  of  a  river,  built  in  the 
shape  of  a  triangle,  with  the  base  at  the  water  side. 
The  walls  were  of  unbarked  logs,  the  roof  of  thatched 
branches  interlaced,  with  the  door  at  the  river  side. 
In  the  middle  of  the  earth  floor,  so  that  the  smoke 
would  curl  up  where  the  branches  formed  a  funnel  or 
chimney,  was  the  fire.  On  the  right  of  the  fire,  two 
hewn  logs  overlaid  with  pine  boughs  made  a  bed. 
On  the  left,  another  hewn  log  acted  as  a  table. 
Jumbled  everywhere,  hanging  from  branches  and 
knobs  of  branches,  were  the  firearms,  clothing,  and 
merchandise  of  the  two  fur  traders.  Naturally,  a  fort 
two  thousand  miles  from  help  needed  sentries.  Radis- 
son  had  not  forgotten  his  boyhood  days  of  Onondaga. 
He  strung  carefully  concealed  cords  through  the  grass 
and  branches  around  the  fort.  To  these  bells  were 
fastened,  and  the  bells  were  the  sentries.  The  two 
white  men  could  now  sleep  soundly  without  fear  of 
approach.  This  fort,  from  which  sprang  the  buoyant, 
aggressive,  prosperous,  free  life  of  the  Great  North- 
west, was  founded  and  built  and  completed  in  two  days. 

The  West  had  begun. ^ 

^  The  two  ma'in  reasons  why  I  think  that  Radisson  and  Groseillers  were  now  moving 
up  that  chain  of  lakes  and  rivers  between  Minnesota  and  Canada,  connecting  Lake  of  the 
Woods  with  Lake  Winnipeg,  are  :  ( i )  Oldmixon  says  it  was  the  report  of  the  Assini- 
boinc  Indians  from  Lake  Assiniboine  (Lake  Winnipeg")  that  led  Radisson  to  seek  for 
the  Bay  of  the  North  overland.      These   Assiniboines  did  not  go  to  the  bay  by  way 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      115 

It  was  a  beginning  which  every  Western  pioneer  was 
to  repeat  for  the  next  two  hundred  years :  first,  the 
log  cabins ;  then,  the  fight  with  the  wilderness  for 
food. 

Radisson,  being  the  younger,  went  into  the  woods 
to  hunt,  while  Groseillers  kept  house.  Wild  geese 
and  ducks  were  whistling  south,  but  "  the  whistling 
that  I  made,"  writes  Radisson,  "  was  another  music 
than  theirs ;  for  I  killed  three  and  scared  the  rest." 
Strange  Indians  came  through  the  forest,  but  were  not 
admitted  to  the  tiny  fort,  lest  knowledge  of  the  traders' 
weakness  should  tempt  theft.  Many  a  night  the 
explorers  were  roused  by  a  sudden  ringing  of  the  bells 
or  crashing  through  the  underbrush,  to  find  that  wild 
animals  had  been  attracted  by  the  smell  of  meat,  and 
wolverine  or  wildcat  was  attempting  to  tear  through 
the  matted  branches  of  the  thatched  roof.  The  desire 
for  firearms  has  tempted  Indians  to  murder  many  a 
trader ;  so  Radisson  and  Groseillers  cached  all  the  sup- 
plies that  they  did  not  need  in  a  hole  across  the 
river.  News  of  the  two  white  men  alone  in  the  north- 
ern forest  spread  like  wild-fire  to  the  different  Sau- 
taux     and     Ojibway     encampments  ;    and     Radisson 

of  Lake  Superior,  but  by  way  of  Lake  Winnipeg.  (2)  A  mcmoire  written  by  De  la 
Chesnaye  in  1696  —  see  Documents  Nouvelle  France,  1492-1712  —  distinctly  refers 
to  a  coureur^s  trail  from  Lake  Superior  to  Lake  Assiniboine  or  Lake  Winnipeg.  There 
is  no  record  of  any  Frenchmen  but  Radisson  and  Groseillers  having  followed  such  a  trail 
to  the  land  of  the  Assiniboines  —  the  Manitoba  of  to-day  —  before  1676. 


ii6      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

invented  another  protection  in  addition  to  the  bells. 
He  rolled  gunpowder  in  twisted  tubes  of  birch  bark, 
and  ran  a  circle  of  this  round  the  fort.  Putting  a 
torch  to  the  birch,  he  surprised  the  Indians  by  dis- 
playing to  them  a  circle  of  fire  running  along  the  ground 
in  a  series  of  jumps.  To  the  Indians  it  was  magic. 
The  two  white  men  were  engirt  with  a  mystery  that 
defended  them  from  all  harm.  Thus  white  men 
passed  their  first  winter  in  the  Great  Northwest. 

Toward  winter  four  hundred  Crees  came  to  escort 
the  explorers  to  the  wooded  lake  region  yet  farther 
west  towards  the  land  of  the  Assiniboines,  the  modern 
Manitoba.  "  We  were  Caesars,"  writes  Radisson. 
"There  was  no  one  to  contradict  us.  We  went  away 
free  from  any  burden,  while  those  poor  miserables 
thought  themselves  happy  to  carry  our  equipage  in  the 
hope  of  getting  a  brass  ring,  or  an  awl,  or  a  needle. 
.  .  .  They  admired  our  actions  more  than  the  fools  of 
Paris  their  king.  .  .  }  They  made  a  great  noise, 
calling  us  gods  and  devils.  We  marched  four  days 
through  the  woods.  The  country  was  beautiful  with 
clear  parks.  At  last  we  came  within  a  league  of  the 
Cree  cabins,  where  we  spent  the  night  that  we  might 
enter  the  encampment  with  pomp  the  next  day.      The 

^  One  can  guess  that  a  man  who  wrote  in  that  spirit  two  centuries  before  the 
French  Revolution  would  not  be  a  sycophant  in  courts, — which,  perhaps,  helps  to 
explain  tlie  conspiracy  of  silence  that  obscured  Radisson's  fame. 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      117 

swiftest  Indians  ran  ahead  to  warn  the  people  of  our 
coming."  Embarking  in  boats,  where  the  water  was 
open,  the  two  explorers  came  to  the  Cree  lodges.  They 
were  welcomed  with  shouts.  Messengers  marched  in 
front,  scattering  presents  from  the  white  men,  —  kettles 
to  call  all  to  a  feast  of  friendship  ;  knives  to  encourage 
the  warriors  to  be  brave  ;  swords  to  signify  that  the 
white  men  would  fight  all  enemies  of  the  Cree;  and 
abundance  of  trinkets  —  needles  and  awls  and  combs 
and  tin  mirrors  —  for  the  women.  The  Indians  pros- 
trated themselves  as  slaves ;  and  the  explorers  were 
conducted  to  a  grand  council  of  welcome.  A  feast 
was  held,  followed  by  a  symbolic  dance  in  celebration 
of  the  white  men's  presence. 

Their  entry  to  the  Great  Northwest  had  been  a 
triumph :  but  they  could  not  escape  the  privations  of 
the  explorer's  life.  Winter  set  in  with  a  severity  to 
make  up  for  the  long,  late  autumn.  Snow  fell  contin- 
uously till  day  and  night  were  as  one,  the  sombre 
forests  muffled  to  silence  with  the  wild  creatures 
driven  for  shelter  to  secret  haunts.  Four  hundred 
men  had  brought  the  explorers  north.  Allowing  an 
average  of  four  to  each  family,  there  must  have  been 
sixteen  hundred  people  in  the  encampment  of  Crees. 
To  prevent  famine,  the  Crees  scattered  to  the  winter 
hunting-grounds,  arranging  to  come  together  again  in 
two  months  at  a  northern  rendezvous.     When  Radis- 


ii8     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

son  and  Groseillers  came  to  the  rendezvous,  they 
learned  that  the  gathering  hunters  had  had  poor  luck. 
Food  was  short.  To  make  matters  worse,  heavy 
rains  were  followed  by  sharp  frost.  The  snow 
became  iced  over,  destroying  rabbit  and  grouse,  which 
feed  the  large  game.  Radisson  noticed  that  the 
Indians  often  snatched  food  from  the  hands  of 
hungry  children.  More  starving  Crees  continued  to 
come  into  camp.  Soon  the  husbands  were  taking 
the  wives'  share  of  food,  and  the  women  were  sub- 
sisting on  dried  pelts.  The  Crees  became  too  weak 
to  carry  their  snow-shoes,  or  to  gather  wood  for  fire. 
The  cries  of  the  dying  broke  the  deathly  stillness  of 
the  winter  forest;  and  the  strong  began  to  dog  the 
footsteps  of  the  weak.  "  Good  God,  have  mercy  on 
these  innocent  people,"  writes  Radisson  ;  "  have  mercy 
on  us  who  acknowledge  Thee  !  "  Digging  through  the 
snow  with  their  rackets,  some  of  the  Crees  got  roots 
to  eat.  Others  tore  the  bark  from  trees  and  made  a 
kind  of  soup  that  kept  them  alive.  Two  weeks  after  the 
famine  set  in,  the  Indians  were  boiling  the  pulverized 
bones  of  the  waste  heap.  After  that  the  only  food 
was  the  buckskin  that  had  been  tanned  for  clothing. 
*' We  ate  it  so  eagerly,"  writes  Radisson,  "that  our 
gums  did  bleed.  .  .  .  We  became  the  image  of 
death."  Before  the  spring  five  hundred  Crees  had 
died    of  famine.      Radisson    and    Groseillers    scarcely 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      119 

had  strength  to  drag  the  dead  from  the  tepees.  The 
Indians  thought  that  Groseillers  had  been  fed  by 
some  fiend,  for  his  heavy,  black  beard  covered  his 
thin  face.  Radisson  they  loved,  because  his  beardless 
face  looked  as  gaunt  as  theirs.^ 

Relief  came  with  the  breaking  of  the  weather.  The 
rain  washed  the  iced  snows  away ;  deer  began  to 
roam  ;  and  with  the  opening  of  the  rivers  came  two 
messengers  from  the  Sioux  to  invite  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  to  visit  their  nation.  The  two  Sioux 
had  a  dog,  which  they  refused  to  sell  for  all  Radis- 
son's  gifts.  The  Crees  dared  not  offend  the  Sioux 
ambassadors  by  stealing  the  worthless  cur  on  which 
such  hungry  eyes  were  cast,  but  at  night  Radisson 
slipped  up  to  the  Sioux  tepee.  The  dog  came  prowl- 
ing out.  Radisson  stabbed  it  so  suddenly  that  it 
dropped  without  a  sound.  Hurrying  back,  he  boiled 
and  fed  the  meat  to  the  famishing  Crees.  When  the 
Sioux  returned  to  their  own  country,  they  sent  a  score 
of  slaves  with  food  for  the  starving  encampment.  No 
doubt  Radisson   had   plied   the  first  messengers  with 

1  My  reason  for  thinking  that  this  region  was  farther  north  than  Minnesota  is  the 
size  of  the  Cree  winter  camp  ;  but  I  have  refrained  from  trying  to  localize  this  part  of 
the  trip,  except  to  say  it  was  west  and  north  of  Duluth.  Some  writers  recognize  in  the 
description  parts  of  Minnesota,  others  the  hinterland  between  Lake  Superior  and 
James  Bay.  In  the  light  of  the  memoire  of  1696  sent  to  the  French  government,  I 
am  unable  to  regard  this  itinerary  as  any  other  than  the  famous  fur  traders'  trail  between 
Lake  Superior  and  Lake  Winnipeg  by  way  of  Sturgeon  River  and  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods. 


120     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

gifts  ;  for  the  slaves  brought  word  that  thirty  picked 
runners  from  the  Sioux  were  coming  to  escort  the 
white  men  to  the  prairie.  To  receive  their  bene- 
factors, and  also,  perhaps,  to  show  that  they  were 
not  defenceless,  the  Crees  at  once  constructed  a  fort ; 
for  Cree  and  Sioux  had  been  enemies  from  time  im- 
memorial. In  two  days  came  the  runners,  clad  only 
in  short  garments,  and  carrying  bow  and  quiver. 
The  Crees  led  the  young  braves  to  the  fort.  Kettles 
were  set  out.  Fagged  from  the  long  run,  the  Sioux 
ate  without  a  word.  At  the  end  of  the  meal  one 
rose.  Shooting  an  arrow  into  the  air  as  a  sign  that 
he  called  Deity  to  witness  the  truth  of  his  words,  he 
proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice  that  the  elders  of  the 
Sioux  nation  would  arrive  next  day  at  the  fort  to 
make  a  treaty  with  the   French. 

The  news  was  no  proof  of  generosity.  The  Sioux 
were  the  great  warriors  of  the  West.  They  knew 
very  well  that  whoever  formed  an  alliance  with  the 
French  would  obtain  firearms ;  and  firearms  meant 
victory  against  all  other  tribes.  The  news  set  the 
Crees  by  the  ears.  Warriors  hastened  from  the  forests 
to  defend  the  fort.  The  next  day  came  the  elders 
of  the  Sioux  in  pomp.  They  were  preceded  by  the 
young  braves  bearing  bows  and  arrows  and  buffalo- 
skin  shields  on  which  were  drawn  figures  portraying 
victories.      Their   hair  was   turned    up   in  a  stiff  crest 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      121 

surmounted  by  eagle  feathers,  and  their  bodies  were 
painted  bright  vermiHon.  Behind  came  the  elders, 
with  medicine-bags  of  rattlesnake  skin  streaming  from 
their  shoulders  and  long  strings  of  bears'  claws  hang- 
ing from  neck  and  wrist.  They  were  dressed  in 
buckskin,  garnished  with  porcupine  quills,  and  wore 
moccasins  of  buffalo  hide,  with  the  hair  dangling  from 
the  heel.  In  the  belt  of  each  was  a  skull-cracker  —  a 
sort  of  sling  stone  with  a  long  handle  —  and  a  war- 
hatchet.  Each  elder  carried  a  peace  pipe  set  with 
precious  stones,  and  stuck  in  the  stem  were  the  quills 
of  the  war  eagle  to  represent  enemies  slain.  Women 
slaves  followed,  loaded  with  skins  for  the  elders' 
tents. 

A  great  fire  had  been  kindled  inside  the  court  of 
the  Cree  stockades.  Round  the  pavilion  the  Sioux 
elders  seated  themselves.  First,  they  solemnly  smoked 
the  calumet  of  peace.  Then  the  chief  of  the  Sioux 
rose  and  chanted  a  song,  giving  thanks  for  their  safe 
journey.  Setting  aside  gifts  of  rare  beaver  pelts,  he 
declared  that  the  Sioux  had  come  to  make  friends  with 
the  French,  who  were  masters  of  peace  and  war ;  that 
the  elders  would  conduct  the  white  men  back  to  the 
Sioux  country  ;  that  the  mountains  were  levelled  and 
the  valleys  cast  up,  and  the  way  made  smooth,  and 
branches  strewn  on  the  ground  for  the  white  men's 
feet,  and  streams  bridged,  and  the  doors  of  the  tepees 


122      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

open.  Let  the  French  come  to  the  Sioux  !  The  In- 
dians would  die  for  the  French.  A  gift  was  presented 
to  invoke  the  friendship  of  the  Crees.  Another  rich 
gift  of  furs  let  out  the  secret  of  the  Sioux'  anxiety  : 
it  was  that  the  French  might  give  the  Sioux  "  thunder 
weapons,"  meaning  guns. 

The  speech  being  finished,  the  Crees  set  a  feast 
before  their  guests.  To  this  feast  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  came  in  a  style  that  eclipsed  the  Sioux. 
Cree  warriors  marched  in  front,  carrying  guns.  Radis- 
son and  Groseillers  were  dressed  in  armor.^  At  their 
belts  they  wore  pistol,  sword,  and  dagger.  On  their 
heads  were  crowns  of  colored  porcupine  quills.  Two 
pages  carried  the  dishes  and  spoons  to  be  used  at  the 
feast;  and  four  Cree  magicians  followed  with  smoking 
calumets  in  their  hands.  Four  Indian  maids  carried 
bearskins  to  place  on  the  ground  when  the  two  ex- 
plorers deigned  to  sit  down.  Inside  the  fort  more 
than  six  hundred  councillors  had  assembled.  Out- 
side were  gathered  a  thousand  spectators.  As  Radis- 
son and  Groseillers  entered,  an  old  Cree  flung  a  peace 
pipe  at  the  explorers'  feet  and  sang  a  song  of  thanks- 
giving to  the  sun  that  he  had  lived  to  see  "  those 
terrible  men  whose  words  (guns)  made  the  earth 
quake."  Stripping  himself  of  his  costly  furs,  he 
placed  them  on   the  white  men's  shoulders,  shouting: 

1  Radisson  Relations,  p.  207. 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      123 

"  Ye  are  masters  over  us  :  dead  or  alive,  dispose  of 
us  as  you  will." 

Then  Radisson  rose  and  chanted  a  song,  in  which 
he  declared  that  the  French  took  the  Crees  for  breth- 
ren and  would  defend  them.  To  prove  his  words, 
he  threw  powder  in  the  fire  and  had  twelve  guns  shot 
off,  which  frightened  the  Sioux  almost  out  of  their 
senses.  A  slave  girl  placed  a  coal  in  the  calumet. 
Radisson  then  presented  gifts :  the  first  to  testify  that 
the  French  adopted  the  Sioux  for  friends ;  the  second 
as  a  token  that  the  French  also  took  the  Crees  for 
friends ;  the  third  as  a  sign  that  the  French  "  would 
reduce  to  powder  with  heavenly  fire  "  any  one  who  dis- 
turbed the  peace  between  these  tribes.  The  fourth 
gift  was  in  grateful  recognition  of  the  Sioux'  courtesy 
in  granting  free  passage  through  their  country.  The 
gifts  consisted  of  kettles  and  hatchets  and  awls  and 
needles  and  looking-glasses  and  bells  and  combs  and 
paint,  but  not  guns.  Radisson's  speech  was  received 
with  "Ho,  ho's"  of  applause.  Sports  began.  Radis- 
son offered  prizes  for  racing,  jumping,  shooting  with 
the  bow,  and  climbing  a  greased  post.  All  the  while, 
musicians  were  singing  and  beating  the  tom-tom,  a 
drum  made  of  buffalo  hide  stretched  on  hoops  and 
filled  with  water. 

Fourteen  days  later  Radisson  and  Groseillers  set  out 
for  the  Sioux  country,  or  what  are  now  known  as  the 


124     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Northwestern  states.^  On  the  thh-d  voyage  Radisson 
came  to  the  Sioux  from  the  south.  On  this  voyage, 
he  came  to  them  from  the  northeast.  He  found  that 
the  tribe  numbered  seven  thousand  men  of  fighting  age. 
He  remarlced  that  the  Sioux  used  a  kind  of  coke  or 
peat  for  fire  instead  of  wood.  While  he  heard  of  the 
tribes  that  used  coal  for  fire,  he  does  not  relate  that  he 
went  to  them  on  this  trip.  Again  he  heard  of  the 
mountains  far  inland,  where  the  Indians  found  copper 
and  lead  and  a  kind  of  stone  that  was  transparent.^ 
He  remained  six  weeks  with  the  Sioux,  hunting  buf- 
falo and  deer.  Between  the  Missouri  and  the  Sas- 
katchewan ran  a  well-beaten  trail  northeastward,  which 
was  used  by  the  Crees  and  the  Sioux  in  their  wars. 
It  is  probable  that  the  Sioux  escorted  Radisson  back 
to  the  Crees  by  this  trail,  till  he  was  across  what  is  now 
the  boundary  between  Minnesota  and  Canada,  and 
could  strike  directly  eastward  for  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods  region,  or  the  hinterland  between  James  Bay 
and  Lake  Superior. 

In  spring  the  Crees  went  to  the  Bay  of  the  North, 
which   Radisson  was   seeking ;    and   after   leaving   the 

1  We  are  now  on  safe  ground.  There  was  a  well-known  trail  from  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Rat  Portage  region  to  the  great  Sioux  camps  west  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Red  River  valleys.  But  again  I  refuse  to  lay  myself  open  to  controversy  by  trying  defi- 
nitely to  give  either  the  dates  or  exact  places  of  this  trip. 

2  If  any  proof  is  wanted  that  Radisson's  journeyings  took  him  far  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, these  details  atlbrd  it. 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      125 

Sioux,  the  two  explorers  struck  for  the  little  fort  north 
of  Lake  Superior,  where  they  had  cached  their  goods. 
Spring  in  the  North  was  later  than  spring  in  the 
South  ;  but  the  shore  ice  of  the  Northern  lakes  had 
already  become  soft.  To  save  time  they  cut  across 
the  lakes  of  Minnesota,  dragging  their  sleighs  on  the 
ice.  Groseillers'  sleigh  was  loaded  with  pelts  obtained 
from  the  Sioux,  and  the  elder  man  began  to  fag. 
Radisson  took  the  heavy  sleigh,  giving  Groseillers  the 
lighter  one.  About  twelve  miles  out  from  the  shore, 
on  one  of  these  lakes,  the  ice  suddenly  gave,  and 
Radisson  plunged  through  to  his  waist.  It  was  as 
dangerous  to  turn  back  as  to  go  on.  If  they  deserted 
their  merchandise,  they  would  have  nothing  to  trade 
with  the  Indians ;  but  when  Radisson  succeeded  in 
extricating  himself,  he  was  so  badly  strained  that  he 
could  not  go  forward  another  step.  There  was  no 
sense  in  risking  both  their  lives  on  the  rotten  ice. 
He  urged  Groseillers  to  go  on.  Groseillers  dared  not 
hesitate.  Laying  two  sleds  as  a  wind-break  on  each 
Side  of  Radisson,  he  covered  the  injured  man  with 
robes,  consigned  him  to  the  keeping  of  God,  and 
hurried  over  the  ice  to  obtain  help  from  the  Crees. 
The  Crees  got  Radisson  ashore,  and  there  he  lay  in 
agony  for  eight  days.  The  Indians  were  preparing  to 
set  out  for  the  North.  They  invited  Radisson  to  go 
with  them.      His  sprain  had  not  healed ;  but  he  could 


126     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

not  miss  the  opportunity  of  approaching  the  Bay  of  the 
North.  For  two  days  he  marched  with  the  hunters, 
enduring  torture  at  every  step.  The  third  day  he 
could  go  no  farther  and  they  deserted  him.  Groseillers 
had  gone  hunting  with  another  band  of  Crees.  Radis- 
son  had  neither  gun  nor  hatchet,  and  the  Indians  left 
him  only  ten  pounds  of  pemmican.  After  a  short  rest 
he  journeyed  painfully  on,  following  the  trail  of  the 
marching  Crees.  On  the  fifth  day  he  found  the  frame 
of  a  deserted  wigwam.  Covering  it  with  branches  of 
trees  and  kindling  a  fire  to  drive  off  beasts  of  prey,  he 
crept  in  and  lay  down  to  sleep.  He  was  awakened 
by  a  crackling  of  flame.  The  fire  had  caught  the  pine 
boughs  and  the  tepee  was  in  a  blaze.  Radisson  flung 
his  snow-shoes  and  clothing  as  far  as  he  could,  and 
broke  from  the  fire-trap.  Half-dressed  and  lame, 
shuddering  with  cold  and  hunger,  he  felt  through  the 
dark  over  the  snow  for  his  clothing.  A  far  cry  rang 
through  the  forest  like  the  bay  of  the  wolf  pack. 
Radisson  kept  solitary  watch  till  morning,  when  he 
found  that  the  cry  came  from  Indians  sent  out  to  find 
him  by  Groseillers.  He  was  taken  to  an  encampment, 
where  the  Crees  were  building  canoes  to  go  to  the  Bay 
of  the  North. 

The  entire  band,  with  the  two  explorers,  then  launched 
on  the  rivers  flowing  north.  "  We  were  in  danger  to 
perish    a   thousand    times   from    the   ice  jam,"   writes 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      127 

Radisson.  ".  .  .  At  last  we  came  full  sail  from  a  deep 
bay  ...  we  came  to  the  seaside,  where  we  found  an 
old  house  all  demolished  and  battered  with  bullets. 
.  .  .  They  (the  Crees)  told  us  about  Europeans.  .  .  . 
We  went  from  isle  to  isle  all  that  summer.  .  .  .  This 
region  had  a  great  store  of  cows  (caribou).  .  .  .  We 
went  farther  to  see  the  place  that  the  Indians  were  to 
pass  the  summer.  .  .  .  The  river  (where  they  went) 
came  from  the  lake  that  empties  itself  in  .  .  .  the 
Saguenay  ...  a  hundred  leagues  from  the  great  river 
of  Canada  (the  St.  Lawrence)  ...  to  where  we  were 
in  the  Bay  of  the  North.  .  .  .  We  passed  the  summer 
quietly  coasting  the  seaside.  .  .  .  The  people  here 
burn  not  their  prisoners,  but  knock  them  on  the  head. 
.  .  .  They  have  a  store  of  turquoise.  .  .  .  They 
find  green  stones,  very  fine,  at  the  same  Bay  of  the 
Sea  (labradorite).  .  .  .  We  went  up  another  river  to 
the  Upper  Lake  (Winnipeg)."^ 

For  years  the  dispute  has  been  waged  with  zeal 
worthy  of  a  better  cause  whether  Radisson  referred  to 
Hudson  Bay  in  this  passage.  The  French  claim  that 
he  did ;  the  English  that  he  did  not.  "  The  house 
demolished  with  bullets  "  was  probably  an  old  trading 
post,  contend  the  English ;  but  there  was  no  trading 
post  except  Radisson's  west  of  Lake  Superior  at  that 
time,    retort    the    French.        By     "  cows "     Radisson 

1  Radisson' 5  Journal,  pp.  224,  225,  226. 


128     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

meant  buffalo,  and  no  buffalo  were  found  as  far  east 
as  Hudson  Bay,  say  the  English;  by  "cows"  Radis- 
son  meant  caribou  and  deer,  and  herds  of  these  fre- 
quented the  shores  of  Hudson  Bay,  answer  the 
French.  No  river  comes  from  the  Saguenay  to  Hud- 
son Bay,  declare  the  English  ;  yes,  but  a  river  comes 
from  the  direction  of  the  Saguenay,  and  was  followed 
by  subsequent  explorers,  assert  the  French.^  The 
stones  of  turquoise  and  green  were  agates  from  Lake 
Superior,  explain  the  English  ;  the  stones  were  labra- 
dorites  from  the  east  coast  of  the  Bay,  maintain  the 
French.  So  the  childish  quarrel  has  gone  on  for  two 
centuries.  England  and  France  alike  conspired  to 
crush  the  man  while  he  lived ;  and  when  he  died  they 
quarrelled  over  the  glory  of  his  discoveries.  The  point 
is  not  whether  Radisson  actually  wet  his  oars  in  the 
different  indentations  of  Hudson  and  James  bays.  The 
point  is  that  he  found  where  it  lay  from  the  Great 
Lakes,  and  discovered  the  watershed  sloping  north 
from  the  Great  Lakes  to  Hudson  Bay.  This  was 
new  ground,  and  entitled  Radisson  to  the  fame  of  a 
discoverer. 


1  Mr.  A.  P.  Low,  who  has  made  the  most  thorough  exploration  of  Labrador 
and  Hudson  Bay  of  any  man  living,  says,  "Rupert  River  forms  the  discharge 
of  the  Mistassini  lakes  .  .  .  and  empties  into  Rupert  Bay  close  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Nottoway  River,  and  rises  in  a  number  of  lakes  close  to  the  height  of  land 
dividing  it  from  the  St.  Maurice  River,  which  joins  the  St.  Lawrence  at  Three 
Rivers." 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE 


129 


From  the  Indians  of  the  bay,  Radisson  heard  of 
anotlier  lake  leagues  to  the  north,  whose  upper  end 
was  always  frozen.  This  was  probably  some  vague 
story  of  the  lakes  in  the  region  that  was  to  become 
known  two  centuries  later  as  Mackenzie  River.  The 
spring  of  1663  found  the  explorers  back  in  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods  region  accompanied  by  seven  hundred 
Indians  of  the  Upper  Country.  The  company  filled 
three  hundred  and  sixty  canoes.  Indian  girls  dived 
into  the  lake  to  push  the  canoes  off,  and  stood  chant- 
ing a  song  of  good-speed  till  the  boats  had  glided  out 
of  sight  through  the  long,  narrow,  rocky  gaps  of  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods.  At  Lake  Superior  the  company 
paused  to  lay  up  a  supply  of  smoked  sturgeon.  At 
the  Sault  four  hundred  Crees  turned  back.  The  rest 
of  the  Indians  hoisted  blankets  on  fishing-poles,  and, 
with  a  west  wind,  scudded  across  Lake  Huron  to 
Lake  Nipissing.  From  Lake  Nipissing  they  rode 
safely  down  the  Ottawa  to  Montreal.  Cannon  were 
fired  to  welcome  the  discoverers,  for  New  France 
was  again  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy  from  a  beaver 
famine. 

A  different  welcome  awaited  them  at  Quebec. 
D'Argenson,  the  governor,  was  about  to  leave  for 
France,  and  nothing  had  come  of  the  Jesuit  expe- 
dition up  the  Saguenay.  He  had  already  sent  Cou- 
ture, for  a    second  time,   overland   to  find  a  way  to 


I30     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Hudson  Bay ;  but  no  word  had  come  from  Couture, 
and  the  governor's  time  was  up.  The  explorers  had 
disobeyed  him  in  leaving  without  his  permission. 
Their  return  with  a  fortune  of  pelts  was  the  salvation 
of  the  impecunious  governor.  From  1627  to  1663 
five  distinct  fur  companies,  organized  under  the  pat- 
ronage of  royalty,  had  gone  bankrupt  in  New  France.^ 
Therefore,  it  became  a  loyal  governor  to  protect  his 
Majesty's  interests.  Besides,  the  revenue  collectors 
could  claim  one-fourth  of  all  returns  in  beaver  ex- 
cept from  posts  farmed  expressly  for  the  king.  No 
sooner  had  Radisson  and  Groseillers  come  home  than 
D'Argenson  ordered  Groseillers  imprisoned.  He  then 
fined  the  explorers  1 20,000,  to  build  a  fort  at  Three 
Rivers,  giving  them  leave  to  put  their  coats-of- 
.rms  on  the  gate ;  a  $30,000  fine  was  to  go  to  the 
public  treasury  of  New  France ;  $70,000  worth  of 
beaver  was  seized  as  the  tax  due  the  revenue.  Of  a 
cargo  worth  $300,000  in  modern  money,  Radisson 
and   Groseillers  had  less  than  $20,000  left.^ 

1  Les  Compagnies  dc  Colonisation  sous  P aiicien  regime,   by  Chailly-Bert. 

2  Oldmixon  says  :  "  Radisson  and  Groseillers  met  with  some  savages  on  the  Lake 
of  Assiniboin,  and  from  them  they  learned  that  they  might  go  by  land  to  the  bottom  of 
Hudson's  Bay,  where  the  English  had  not  been  yet,  at  James  Bay  ;  upon  which  they 
desired  them  to  conduct  them  thither,  and  the  savages  accordingly  did  it.  They 
returned  to  the  Upper  Lake  the  same  way  they  came,  and  thence  to  Quebec,  where 
they  offered  the  principal  merchants  to  carry  ships  to  Hudson's  Bay  ;  but  their  project 
was  rejected."  Vol.  I,  p.  <;48.  Radisson's  figures  are  given  as  "  pounds  "  ;  but  by  £ 
did  he  mean  English  "  pound  "  or  French  livre,  that  is  ly**  ?  A  franc  in  1660  equalled 
the  modern  dollar. 


RADISSON'S    FOURTH    VOYAGE      131 

Had  D'Argenson  and  his  successors  encouraged 
instead  of  persecuted  the  discoverers,  France  could 
have  claimed  all  North  America  but  the  narrow  strip 
of  New  England  on  the  east  and  the  Spanish  settle- 
ments on  the  south.  Having  repudiated  Radisson 
and  Groseillers,  France  could  not  claim  the  fruits  of 
deeds  which  she  punished.^ 

1  The  exact  tribes  mentioned  in  the  Mhnoire  of  i6g6.,  with  whom  the  French  were 
in  trade  in  the  West  are:  On  the  "  Missoury  "  and  south  of  it,  the  Mascoutins  and 
Sioux;  two  hundred  miles  beyond  the  "  Missisipy "  the  Issaguy,  the  Octbatons,  the 
Omtous,  of  whom  were  Sioux  capable  of  mustering  four  thousand  warriors  ;  south  of 
Lake  Superior,  the  Sauteurs  ;  on  "  Sipisagny,  the  river  which  is  the  discharge  of  Like 
Asemipigon  "  (Winnipeg),  the  "  Nation  of  the  Grand  Rat,"  Algonquins  numbering 
two  thousand,  who  traded  with  the  English  of  Hudson  Bay  ;  De  la  Chesnaye  adds  in 
his  tnemoire  details  of  the  trip  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  lake  of  the  Assiniboines. 
Knowing  what  close  co-workers  he  and  Radisson  were,  we  can  guess  where  he  got  his 
information. 


CHAPTER  V 

1664-1676 

RADISSON    RENOUNCES    ALLEGIANCE  TO    TWO 
CROWNS 

Rival  Traders  thwart  the  Plans  of  the  Discoverers  —  Entangled  in 
Lawsuits,  the  two  French  Explorers  go  to  England  —  The  Organi- 
zation of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Fur  Company  —  Radisson  the  Storm- 
centre  of  International  Intrigue  —  Boston  Merchants  in  the 
Struggle  to  capture  the  Fur  Trade 

Henceforth  Radisson  and  Groseillers  were  men 
without  a  country.  Twice  their  return  from  the 
North  with  cargoes  of  beaver  had  saved  New  France 
from  ruin.  They  had  discovered  more  of  America 
than  all  the  other  explorers  combined.  Their  reward 
was  jealous  rivalry  that  reduced  them  to  beggary  ; 
injustice  that  compelled  them  to  renounce  allegiance  to 
two  crowns  ;  obloquy  during  a  lifetime ;  and  oblivion 
for  two  centuries  after  their  death.  The  very  force 
of  unchecked  impulse  that  carries  the  hero  over  all 
obstacles  may  also  carry  him  over  the  bounds  of  cau- 
tion and  compromise  that  regulate  the  conduct  of 
other    men.      This    was   the  case    with    Radisson    and 


RADISSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     133 

Groseillers.  They  were  powerless  to  resist  the  extor- 
tion of  the  French  governor.  The  Company  of  One 
Hundred  Associates  had  given  place  to  the  Company 
of  the  West  Indies.  This  trading  venture  had  been 
organized  under  the  direct  patronage  of  the  king.^  It 
'lad  been  proclaimed  from  the  pulpits  of  France. 
Privileges  were  promised  to  all  who  subscribed  for  the 
stock.  The  Company  was  granted  a  blank  list  of  titles 
to  bestow  on  its  patrons  and  servants.  No  one  else 
in  New  France  might  engage  in  the  beaver  trade ;  no 
one  else  might  buy  skins  from  the  Indians  and  sell 
the  pelts  in  Europe ;  and  one-fourth  of  the  trade  went 
for  public  revenue.  In  spite  of  all  the  privileges,  fur 
company  after  fur  company  failed  in  New  France;  but 
to  them  Radisson  had  to  sell  his  furs,  and  when  the 
revenue  officers  went  over  the  cargo,  the  minions  of 
the  governor  also  seized  a  share  under  pretence  of  a 
fine  for  trading  without  a  license. 

Groseillers  was  furious,  and  sailed  for  France  to 
demand  restitution ;  but  the  intriguing  courtiers 
proved  too  strong  for  him.  Though  he  spent 
^10,000,  nothing  was  done.  D'Avaugour  had  come 
back  to  France,  and  stockholders  of  the  jealous  fur 
company  were  all-powerful  at  court.  Groseillers  then 
relinquished  all  idea  of  restitution,  and  tried  to  interest 
merchants  in  another  expedition  to   Hudson   Bay  by 

1  Chailly-Bert. 


134      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

way  of  the  sea.^  He  might  have  spared  himself  the 
trouble.  His  enthusiasm  only  aroused  the  quiet  smile 
of  supercilious  indifference.  His  plans  were  regarded 
as  chimerical.  Finally  a  merchant  of  Rochelle  half 
promised  to  send  a  boat  to  Isle   Percee  at  the  mouth 


^m 

1 

:-   'f^ 

1 

1 

^ 

iSKS^^H 

m       ^    ^ 

^ 

:.-mt 

^^^^HH 

^^^^__'        5,  J  ^      ■       '■gv" 

J, 

l2iL«^,w^ 

HHHHHlHHIil 

HHlii^s^. 

Martello  Tower  of  Refuge  in  Time  of  Indian  Wars  —  Three  Rivers. 


of  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1664.  Groseillers  had  already 
wasted  six  months.  Eager  for  action,  he  hurried  back 
to  Three  Rivers,  where  Radisson   awaited  him.     The 


1  The  Jesuit  expeditions  of  Dablon  and  Dreuillettes  in  1661  had  failed  to  reach  the 
bay  o\'erland.  Cabot  had  coasted  Labrador  in  1497  ;  Captain  Davis  had  gone  north  of 
Hudson  Bay  in  1585-1587;  Hudson  had  lost  his  life  there  in  1610.  Sir  Thomas 
Button  had  explored  Baffin's  Land,  Nelson  River,  and  the  Button  Islands  in  1612; 
Munck,  the  Dane,  had  found  the  mouth  of  the  Churchill  River  in  1619;  James  and 
Fox  had  explored  the  inland  sea  in  1631  ;  Shapley  had  brought  a  ship  up  from  Boston 
in  1640  ;  and  Bourdon,  the  Frenchman,  had  gone  up  to  the  straits  in  1656-1657. 


RADISSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     135 

two  secretly  took  passage  in  a  fishing  schooner  to 
Anticosti,  and  from  Anticosti  went  south  to  Isle 
Percee.  Here  a  Jesuit  just  out  from  France  bore  the 
message  to  them  that  no  ship  would  come.  The 
promise  had  been  a  put-off  to  rid  France  of  the 
enthusiast.  New  France  had  treated  them  with 
injustice,  Old  France  with  mockery.  Which  way 
should  they  turn  ?  They  could  not  go  back  to  Three 
Rivers.  This  attempt  to  go  to  Hudson  Bay  without 
a  license  laid  them  open  to  a  second  fine.  Baffled, 
but  not  beaten,  the  explorers  did  what  ninety-nine 
men  out  of  a  hundred  would  have  done  in  similar 
circumstances  —  they  left  the  country.  Some  rumor 
of  their  intention  to  abandon  New  France  must  have 
gone  abroad ;  for  when  they  reached  Cape  Breton, 
their  servants  grumbled  so  loudly  that  a  mob  of 
Frenchmen  threatened  to  burn  the  explorers.  Dis- 
missing their  servants,  Radisson  and  Groseillers 
escaped  to  Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia. 

In  Port  Royal  they  met  a  sea-captain  from  Boston, 
Zechariah  Gillam,  who  offered  his  ship  for  a  voyage 
to  Hudson  Bay,  but  the  season  was  far  spent  when 
they  set  out.  Captain  Gillam  was  afraid  to  enter  the 
ice-locked  bay  so  late  in  summer.  The  boat  turned 
back,  and  the  trip  was  a  loss.  This  run  of  ill-luck 
had  now  lasted  for  a  year.  They  still  had  some 
money  from  the   Northern  trips,    and   they  signed    a 


136      PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

contract  with  ship-owners  of  Boston  to  take  two 
vessels  to  Hudson  Bay  the  following  spring.  Provi- 
sions must  be  laid  up  for  the  long  voyage.  One  of 
the  ships  was  sent  to  the  Grand  Banks  for  fish. 
Rounding  eastward  past  the  crescent  reefs  of  Sable 
Island,  the  ship  was  caught  by  the  beach-combers  and 
totally  wrecked  on  the  drifts  of  sand.  Instead  of 
sailing  for  Hudson  Bay  in  the  spring  of  1665,  Radis- 
son  and  Groseillers  were  summoned  to  Boston  to 
defend  themselves  in  a  lawsuit  for  the  value  of  the 
lost  vessel.  They  were  acquitted ;  but  lawsuits  on 
the  heels  of  misfortune  exhausted  the  resources  of  the 
adventurers.  The  exploits  of  the  two  Frenchmen  had 
become  the  sensation  of  Boston.  Sir  Robert  Carr, 
one  of  the  British  commissioners  then  in  the  New 
England  colonies,  urged  Radisson  and  Groseillers  to 
renounce  allegiance  to  a  country  that  had  shown  only 
ingratitude,  and  to  come  to  England.^  When  Sir 
George  Cartwright  sailed  from  Nantucket  on  Au- 
gust I,  1665,  he  was  accompanied  by  Radisson  and 
Groseillers.'^  Misfortune  continued  to  dog  them. 
Within  a   few  days'  sail  of   England,  their  ship    en- 

1  George  Carr,  writing  to  Lord  Arlington  on  December  14,  1665,  says  :  "  Hearing 
some  Frenchmen  discourse  in  New  England  ...  of  a  great  trade  of  beaver,  and  after- 
ward making  proof  of  what  they  had  said,  he  thought  them  the  best  present  he  could 
possibly  make  his  Majesty  and  persuaded  them  to  come  to  England." 

2  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls,  writing  on  July  31,  1665,  says  he  "supposes  Col.  Geo. 
Cartwright  is  now  at  sea." 


RADISSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     137 

countered  the  Dutch  cruiser  Caper.  For  two 
hours  the  ships  poured  broadsides  of  shot  into  each 
other's  hulls.  The  masts  were  torn  from  the  English 
vessel.  She  was  boarded  and  stripped,  and  the 
Frenchmen  were  thoroughly  questioned.  Then  the 
captives  were  all  landed  in  Spain.  Accompanied  by 
the  two  Frenchmen,  Sir  George  Cartwright  hastened 
to  England  early  in  1666.  The  plague  had  driven 
the  court  from  London  to  Oxford.  Cartwright  laid 
the  plans  of  the  explorers  before  Charles  IL  The 
king  ordered  4OJ.  a  week  paid  to  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  for  the  winter.  They  took  chambers 
in  London.  Later  they  followed  the  court  to  Wind- 
sor, where  they  were  received  by  King  Charles. 

The  English  court  favored  the  project  of  trade  in 
Hudson  Bay,  but  during  the  Dutch  war  nothing 
could  be  done.  The  captain  of  the  Dutch  ship 
Caper  had  sent  word  of  the  French  explorers  to 
De  Witt,  the  great  statesman.  De  Witt  despatched  a 
spy  from  Picardy,  France,  one  Eli  Godefroy  Touret, 
who  chanced  to  know  Groseillers,  to  meet  the  ex- 
plorers in  London.  Masking  as  Groseillers'  nephew, 
Touret  tried  to  bribe  both  men  to  join  the  Dutch. 
Failing  this,  he  attempted  to  undermine  their  credit 
with  the  English  by  accusing  Radisson  and  Groseillers 
of  counterfeiting  money ;  but  the  English  court 
refused  to  be  deceived,  and  Touret  was   imprisoned. 


138      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Owing  to  the  plague  and  the  war,  two  years  passed 
without  the  vague  promises  of  the  EngHsh  court 
taking  shape.  Montague,  the  EngHsh  ambassador  to 
France,  heard  of  the  explorers'  feats,  and  wrote  to 
Prince  Rupert.  Prince  Rupert  was  a  soldier  of 
fortune,  who  could  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  ex- 
plorers. He  had  fought  on  the  losing  side  against 
Cromwell,  and  then  taken  to  the  high  seas  to  replenish 
broken  fortunes  by  piracy.  The  wealth  of  the  beaver 
trade  appealed  to  him.  He  gave  all  the  influence  of 
his  prestige  to  the  explorers'  plans.  By  the  spring  of 
1668  money  enough  had  been  advanced  to  fit  out 
two  boats  for  Hudson  Bay.  In  the  Eagle ^  with 
Captain  Stannard,  went  Radisson  ;  in  the  Nonsuch^  with 
Captain  Zechariah  Gillam  of  Boston,  went  Groseillers. 
North  of  Ireland  furious  gales  drove  the  ships  apart. 
Radisson's  vessel  was  damaged  and  driven  back  to 
London  ;  but  his  year  was  not  wasted.  It  is  likely 
that  the  account  of  his  first  voyages  was  written  while 
Groseillers  was  away.^  Sometime  during  his  stay  in 
London  he  married  Mary  Kirke,  a  daughter  of  the 
Huguenot  John  Kirke,  whose  family  had  long  ago 
gone  from   Boston  and  captured  Quebec. 

Gillam's  journal     records     that    the    Nonsuch    left 
Gravesend  the  3d  of  June,  1668,  reached  Resolution 

1  It  plainly  could  not  have  been  written  while  en  route  across  the  Atlantic  with  Sir 
George  Cartwright,  for  it  records  events  after  that  time. 


RADISSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE 


139 


Island  on  August  4,  and  came  to  anchor  at  the 
south  of  James  Bay  on  September  29.^  It  was 
here  that  Radisson  had  come  overland  five  years 
before,  when  he  thought  that  he  discovered  a  river 
flowing  from  the  direction  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  The 
river  was  Nemisco.  Groseillers  called  it  Rupert  in 
honor  of  his  patron.  A  palisaded  fort  was  at  once 
built,  and  named  King  Charles  after  the  English 
monarch.  By  December,  the  bay  was  locked  in  the 
deathly  silence  of  northern  frost.  Snow  fell  till  the 
air  became  darkened  day  after  day,  a  ceaseless  fall  of 
muffling  snow;  the  earth — as  Gillam's  journal  savs 
— "  seemed  frozen  to  death."  Gillam  attended  to 
the  fort,  Groseillers  to  the  trade.  Dual  command  was 
bound  to  cause  a  clash.  By  April,  1669,  the  terrible 
cold  had  relaxed.  The  ice  swept  out  of  the  river  with 
a  roar.  Wild  fowl  came  winging  north  in  myriad 
flocks.  By  June  the  fort  was  sweltering  in  almost 
tropical  heat.  The  Nonsuch  hoisted  anchor  and  sailed 
for  England,  loaded  to  the  water-line  with  a  cargo  of 
furs.  Honors  awaited  Groseillers  in  London.  King 
Charles  created  him  a  Knight  de  la  Jarretierey  an  order 
for  princes  of  the  royal  blood.'^  In  addition,  he  was 
granted  a  sum  of  money.  Prince  Rupert  and  Radis- 
son had,  meanwhile,  been  busy  organizing  a  fur  com- 

1  Robson's  Hudson  Bay. 

2  See  Dr.  N.  E.  Dionne  ;    also  Marie  de   I'lncarnation  ;   but  Suite  discredits  this 
granting  of  a  title. 


I40      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

pany.  The  success  of  Groseillers'  voyage  now  assured 
this  company  a  royal  charter,  which  was  granted  in 
May,  1670.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  Prince  Rupert  was  its  first  governor; 
Charles  Bayly  was  appointed  resident  governor  on  the 
bay.  Among  the  first  shareholders  were  Prince  Ru- 
pert, the  Duke  of  York,  Sir  George  Cartwright,  the 
Duke  of  Albermarle,  Shaftesbury,  Sir  Peter  Colleton, 
who  had  advanced  Radisson  a  loan  during  the  long 
period  of  waiting,  and  Sir  John  Kirke,  whose  daugh- 
ter had  married  Radisson. 

That  spring,  Radisson  and  Groseillers  again  sailed 
for  the  bay.  In  1671,  three  ships  were  sent  out  from 
England,  and  Radisson  established  a  second  post 
westward  at  Moose.  With  Governor  Bayly,  he  sailed 
up  and  met  the  Indians  at  what  was  to  become  the 
great  fur  capital  of  the  north.  Port  Nelson,  or  York. 
The  third  year  of  the  company's  existence,  Radisson 
and  Groseillers  perceived  a  change.  Not  so  many 
Indians  came  down  to  the  Enghsh  forts  to  trade. 
Those  who  came  brought  fewer  pelts  and  demanded 
higher  prices.  Rivals  had  been  at  work.  The  Eng- 
lish learned  that  the  French  had  come  overland  and 
were  paying  high  prices  to  draw  the  Indians  from  the 
bay.      In  the  spring  a  council  was  held.^     Should  they 

1  See  Robson's  Iludion  Bay,  containing  reference  to  the  journal  kept  by  Gorst, 
Bayly's  secretary,  at  Rupert  Fort. 


RADISSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     141 

continue  on  the  east  side  of  the  bay,  or  move  west, 
where  there  would  be  no  rivah-y  ?  Groseillers  boldly 
counselled  moving  inland  and  driving  off  French 
competition.  Bayly  was  for  moving  west.  He  even 
hinted  that  Groseillers'  advice  sprang  from  disloyalty 
to  the  English.  The  clash  that  was  inevitable  from 
divided  command  was  this  time  avoided  by  compro- 
mise. They  would  all  sail  west,  and  all  come  back  to 
Rupert's  River.  When  they  returned,  they  found 
that  the  English  ensign  had  been  torn  down  and  the 
French  flag  raised.^  A  veteran  Jesuit  missionary  of 
the  Saguenay,  Charles  Albanel,  two  French  companions, 
and  some  Indian  guides  had  ensconced  themselves 
in  the  empty  houses.'^  The  priest  now  presented 
Governor   Bayly   with   letters   from   Count  Frontenac 

1  See  State  Papers,  Canadian  Archives,  1676,  January  26,  Whitehall:  Memorial 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  complaining  of  Albanel,  a  Jesuit,  attempting  to  seduce 
Radisson  and  Groseillers  from  the  company's  services ;  in  absence  of  ships  pulling 
down  the  British  ensign  and  tampering  with  the  Indians. 

2  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  Albanel  may  not  have  been  aware  of  the  documents 
which  he  carried  from  Quebec  to  the  traders  being  practically  an  offer  to  bribe  Radisson 
and  Groseillers  to  desert  England.  Some  accounts  say  that  Albanel  was  accompanied  by 
Groseillers'  son,  but  I  find  no  authority  for  this.  On  the  other  hand,  Albanel  does 
not  mention  the  Englishmen  being  present.  Just  as  Radisson  and  Groseillers,  ten  years 
before,  had  taken  possession  of  the  old  house  battered  with  bullets,  so  Albanel  took 
possession  of  the  deserted  huts.  Here  is  what  his  account  says  (Cramoisy  edition  of  the 
Relations)  :  "  Le  28  June  a  peine  avions  nous  avance  un  quart  de  lieue,  que  nous 
rencontrasmes  a  main  gauche  dans  un  petit  ruisseau  un  heu  avec  ses  agrez  de  dix  ou  dou 
tonneaux,  qui  portoit  le  Pavilion  Anglois  et  la  voile  latine  ;  dela  a  la  portee  du  fusil, 
nous  entrasmes  dans  deux  maisons  desertes  .  .  .  nous  rencontrasmes  deux  ou  trois 
cabanes  et  un  chien  abandonne.  .  .  ."  His  tampering  with  the  Indians  was  simply 
the  presentation  of  gifts  to  attract  them  to  Quebec. 


142      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

commending  the  French  to  the  good  offices  of  Gov- 
ernor Bayly.^ 

France  had  not  been  idle. 

When  it  was  too  late,  the  country  awakened  to  the 
injustice  done  Radisson  and  Groseillers.  While  Rad- 
isson  was  still  in  Boston,  all  restrictions  were  taken 
from  the  beaver  trade,  except  the  tax  of  one-fourth  to 
the  revenue.  The  Jesuit  Dablon,  who  was  near  the 
western  end  of  Lake  Superior,  gathered  all  the  infor- 
mation he  could  from  the  Indians  of  the  way  to  the 
Sea  of  the  North.  Father  Marquette  learned  of  the 
Mississippi  from  the  Indians.  The  Western  tribes 
had  been  summoned  to  the  Sault,  where  Sieur  de  Saint- 
Lusson  met  them  in  treaty  for  the  French ;  and  the 
French  flag  was  raised  in  the  presence  of  Pere  Claude 
Allouez,  who  blessed  the  ceremony.  M.  Colbert  sent 
instructions  to  M.  Talon,  the  intendant  of  New  France, 
to  grant  titles  of  nobility  to  Groseillers'  nephew  in 
order  to  keep  him  in  the  country."  On  the  Saguenay 
was  a  Jesuit,  Charles  Albanel,  loyal  to  the  French  and 
of  English  birth,  whose  devotion  to  the  Indians  during 
the  small-pox  scourge  of  1670  had  given  him  un- 
bounded influence.  Talon,  the  intendant  of  New 
France,  was  keen  to  retrieve  in  the  North  what  D'Ar- 

^  See  State  Papers,  Canadian  Arcliives  :  M.  Fiontenac,  the  commander  of  French  (?) 
king's  troops  at  Hudson  Bay,  introduces  and  recommends  Father  Albanel. 
■^  State   I'apcrs,  Canadian    Archives. 


RADISSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     143 

genson's  injustice  had  lost.  Who  could  be  better 
qualified  to  go  overland  to  Hudson  Bay  than  the  old 
missionary,  loyal  to  France,  of  English  birth,  and  be- 
loved by  the  Indians?  Albanel  was  summoned  to 
Quebec  and  gladly  accepted  the  commission.  He 
chose  for  companions  Saint-Simon  and  young  Cou- 
ture, the  son  of  the  famous  guide  to  the  Jesuits.  The 
company  left  Quebec  on  August  6,  1671,  and  secured 
a  guide  at  Tadoussac.  Embarking  in  canoes,  they 
ascended  the  shadowy  caiion  of  the  Saguenay  to  Lake 
St.  John.  On  the  yth  of  September  they  left  the 
forest  of  Lake  St.  John  and  mounted  the  current  of 
a  winding  river,  full  of  cataracts  and  rapids,  toward 
Mistassini.  On  this  stream  they  met  Indians  who 
told  them  that  two  European  vessels  were  on  Hud- 
son Bay.  The  Indians  showed  Albanel  tobacco 
which  they   had  received  from  the  English. 

It  seemed  futile  to  go  on  a  voyage  of  discovery 
where  English  were  already  in  possession.  The  priest 
sent  one  of  the  Frenchmen  and  two  Indians  back  to 
Quebec  for  passports  and  instructions.  What  the 
instructions  were  can  only  be  guessed  by  subsequent 
developments.  The  messengers  left  the  depth  of  the 
forest  on  the  19th  of  September,  and  had  returned 
from  Quebec  by  the  loth  of  October.  Snow  was  falling. 
The  streams  had  frozen,  and  the  Indians  had  gone  into 
camp  for   the  winter.      Going   from   wigwam   to  wig- 


144     PATHFINDERS    OF  THE    WEST 

warn  through  the  drifted  forest,  Father  Albanel  passed 
the  winter  preaching  to  the  savages.  Skins  of  the 
chase  were  laid  on  the  wigwams.  Against  the  pelts, 
snow  was  banked  to  close  up  every  chink.  Inside, 
the  air  was  blue  with  smoke  and  the  steam  of  the 
simmering  kettle.  Indian  hunters  lay  on  the  moss 
floor  round  the  central  fires.  Children  and  dogs 
crouched  heterogeneously  against  the  sloping  tent 
walls.  Squaws  plodded  through  the  forest,  setting 
traps  and  baiting  the  fish-lines  that  hung  through  air- 
holes of  the  thick  ice.  In  these  lodges  Albanel  win- 
tered. He  was  among  strange  Indians  and  suffered 
incredible  hardships.  Where  there  was  room,  he,  too, 
sat  crouched  under  the  crowded  tent  walls,  scofied  at 
by  the  braves,  teased  by  the  unrebuked  children,  eat- 
ing when  the  squaws  threw  waste  food  to  him,  going 
hungry  when  his  French  companions  failed  to  bring 
in  game.  Sometimes  night  overtook  him  on  the  trail. 
Shovelling  a  bed  through  the  snow  to  the  moss  with 
his  snow-shoes,  piling  shrubs  as  a  wind-break,  and 
kindling  a  roaring  fire,  the  priest  passed  the  night 
under  the  stars. 

When  spring  came,  the  Indians  opposed  his  passage 
down  the  river.  A  council  was  called.  Albanel  ex- 
plained that  his  message  was  to  bring  the  Indians 
down  to  Quebec  and  keep  them  from  going  to  the 
English  for  trade.     The   Indians,  who  had   acted    as 


RADTSSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     145 

middlemen  between  Quebec  traders  and  the  Northern 
tribes,  saw  the  advantage  of  undermining  the  English 
trade.  Gifts  were  presented  by  the  Frenchmen,  and 
the  friendship  of  the  Indians  was  secured.  On  June  i, 
1672,  sixteen  savages  embarked  with  the  three  French- 
men. For  the  next  ten  days,  the  difficulties  were 
almost  insurmountable.  The  river  tore  through  a 
deep  gorge  of  sheer  precipices  which  the  voyageurs 
could  pass  only  by  clinging  to  the  rock  walls  with 
hands  and  feet.  One  portage  was  twelve  miles  long 
over  a  muskeg  of  quaking  moss  that  floated  on  water. 
At  every  step  the  travellers  plunged  through  to  their 
waists.  Over  this  the  long  canoes  and  baggage  had  to 
be  carried.  On  the  loth  of  June  they  reached  the 
height  of  land  that  divides  the  waters  of  Hudson 
Bay  from  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  watershed  was  a 
small  plateau  with  two  lakes,  one  of  which  emptied 
north,  the  other,  south.  As  they  approached  Lake 
Mistassini,  the  Lake  Indians  again  opposed  their  free 
passage  down  the  rivers. 

"You  must  wait,"  they  said,  "till  we  notify  the 
elders  of  your  coming."  Shortly  afterwards,  the 
French  met  a  score  of  canoes  with  the  Indians  all 
painted  for  war.  The  idea  of  turning  back  never 
occurred  to  the  priest.  By  way  of  demonstrating  his 
joy  at  meeting  the  warriors,  he  had  ten  volleys  of 
musketry   fired    off,  which   converted    the  war  into  a 


146     PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 

council  of  peace.  At  the  assemblage,  Albanel  dis- 
tributed gifts  to  the  savages. 

"  Stop  trading  with  the  English  at  the  sea,"  he 
cried ;  "  they  do  not  pray  to  God ;  come  to  Lake  St. 
John  with  your  furs ;  there  you  will  always  find  a  robe 
noire  to  instruct  you  and  baptize  you." 

The  treaty  was  celebrated  by  a  festival  and  a  dance. 
In  the  morning,  after  solemn  religious  services,  the 
French  embarked.  On  the  i8th  of  June  they  came 
to  Lake  Mistassini,  an  enormous  body  of  water  similar 
to  the  Great  Lakes.^  From  Mistassini,  the  course  was 
down-stream  and  easier.  High  water  enabled  them  to 
run  many  of  the  rapids  ;  and  on  the  28  th  of  June,  after 
a  voyage  of  eight  hundred  leagues,  four  hundred  rapids, 
and  two  hundred  waterfalls,  they  came  to  the  deserted 
houses  of  the  English.  The  very  next  day  they  found 
the  Indians  and  held  religious  services,  making  solemn 
treaty,  presenting  presents,  and  hoisting  the  French 
flag.  For  the  first  three  weeks  of  July  they  coasted 
along  the  shores  of  James  Bay,  taking  possession  of  the 
country  in  the  name  of  the  French  king.  Then  they 
cruised  back  to  King  Charles  Fort  on  Rupert's  River.^ 
They  were  just  in  time  to  meet  the  returned  Englishmen. 

1  For  some  years  there  were  sensational  reports  that  Mistassini  was  larger  than  Lake 
Superior.  Mr.  Low,  of  the  Canadian  Geological  Survey,  in  a  very  exhaustive  report, 
shows  this  is  not  so.  Still,  the  lake  ranks  with  the  large  lakes  of  America.  Mr.  Low 
gives  its  dimensions  as  one  hundred  miles  long  and  twelve  miles  wide. 

2  There  is  a  discrepancy  in  dates  here  which  I  leave  savants  to  worry  out.     Albanel'' i 


RADISSON  CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     147 

Governor  Bayly  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
was  astounded  to  find  the  French  at  Rupert's  River. 
Now  he  knew  what  had  allured  the  Indians  from  the 
bay,  but  he  hardly  relished  finding  foreigners  in  pos- 
session of  his  own  fort.  The  situation  required  deli- 
cate tact.  Governor  Bayly  was  a  bluff  tradesman  with 
an  insular  dislike  of  Frenchmen  and  Catholics  common 
in  England  at  a  time  when  bigoted  fanaticism  ran 
riot.  King  Charles  was  on  friendly  terms  with  France. 
Therefore,  the  Jesuit's  passport  must  be  respected ;  so 
Albanel  was  received  with  at  least  a  show  of  courtesy. 
But  Bayly  was  the  governor  of  a  fur  company ;  and 
the  rights  of  the  company  must  be  respected.  To 
make  matters  worse,  the  French  voyageurs  brought 
letters  to  Groseillers  and  Radisson  from  their  relatives 
in  Quebec.  Bayly,  no  doubt,  wished  the  Jesuit  guest  far 
enough.  Albanel  left  in  a  few  weeks.  Then  Bayly's 
suspicions  blazed  out  in  open  accusations  that  the  two 
French  explorers  had  been  playing  a  double  game  and 
acting  against  English  interests.     In  September  came 

Relation  (Cramoisy)  is  of  1672.  Thomas  Gorst,  secretary  to  Governor  Bayly,  says 
that  the  quarrel  took  place  in  1674.  Oldmixon,  who  wrote  from  hearsay,  says  in 
1673.  Robson,  who  had  access  to  Hudson's  Bay  records,  says  1676;  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  they  all  agree.  In  a  word,  Radisson  and  Groseillers  were  on  bad 
terms  with  the  local  Hudson's  Bay  Company  governor  from  the  first,  and  the  open 
quarrel  took  place  only  in  1675.  Considering  the  bigotry  of  the  times,  the  quarrel  was 
only  natural.  Bayly  was  governor,  but  he  could  not  take  precedence  over  Radisson 
and  Groseillers.  He  was  Protestant  and  English.  They  were  Catholics  and  French. 
Besides,  they  were  really  at  the  English  governor's  mercy  ;  for  they  could  not  go  back 
to  Canada  until  publicly  pardoned  by  the  French  king. 


148      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

the  company  ship  to  the  fort  with  Captain  Gillam,  who 
had  never  agreed  with  Radisson  from  the  time  that 
they  had  quarrelled  about  going  from  Port  Royal  to 
the  straits  of  Hudson  Bay.  It  has  been  said  that,  at 
this  stage,  Radisson  and  Groseillers,  feeling  the  preju- 
dice too  strong  against  them,  deserted  and  passed 
overland  through  the  forests  to  Quebec.  The  records 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  do  not  corroborate  this 
report.  Bayly  in  the  heat  of  his  wrath  sent  home 
accusations  with  the  returning  ship.  The  ship  that 
came  out  in  1674  requested  Radisson  to  go  to  Eng- 
land and  report.  This  he  did,  and  so  completely 
refuted  the  charges  of  disloyalty  that  in  1675  ^^^  com- 
pany voted  him  X^^o  a  year;  but  Radisson  would 
not  sit  quietly  in  England  on  a  pension.  Owing  to 
hostility  toward  him  among  the  English  employees  of 
the  company,  he  could  not  go  back  to  the  bay. 
Meantime  he  had  wife  and  family  and  servants  to  main- 
tain on  ^100  a  year.  If  England  had  no  more  need 
of  him,  France  realized  the  fact  that  she  had.  Debts 
were  accumulating.  Restless  as  a  caged  tiger,  Radis- 
son found  himself  baffled  until  a  message  came  from 
the  great  Colbert  of  France,  offering  to  pay  all  his 
debts  and  give  him  a  position  in  the  French  navy. 
His  pardon  was  signed  and  proclaimed.  In  1676, 
France  granted  him  fishing  privileges  on  the  island  of 
Anticosti ;   but  the  lodestar  of  the  fur  trade  still  drew 


RADISSON   CHANGES  ALLEGIANCE     149 

him,  for  that  year  he  was  called  to  Quebec  to  meet  a 
company  of  traders  conferring  on  the  price  of  beaver.' 
In  that  meeting  assembled,  among  others,  Jolliet,  La 
Salle,  Groseillers,  and  Radisson  —  men  whose  names 
were  to  become  immortal. 

It  was  plain  that  the  two  adventurers  could  not  long 
rest.^ 

1  State  Papers,  Canadian  Archives,  October  20,  1676,  Quebec:  Report  of  pro- 
ceedings regarding  the  price  of  beaver  ...  by  an  ordinance,  October  19,  1676, 
M.  Jacques  Duchesneau,  Intendant,  had  called  a  meeting  of  the  leading  fur  traders  to 
consult  about  fixing  the  price  of  beaver.  There  were  present,  among  others,  Robert, 
Cavelier  de  la  Salle,  .  .  .  Charles  le  Moyne,  .  .  .  two  Godefroys  of  Three  Rivers, 
.    .    .   Groseillers,   .    .    .  Jolliet,    .    .    .    Pierre  Radisson. 

2  Mr.  Low's  geological  report  on  Labrador  contains  interesting  particulars  of  the 
route  followed  by  Father  Albanel.  He  speaks  of  the  gorge  and  swamps  and  difficult 
portages  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  the  priest,  though  Albanel  must  have  encountered 
the  worst  possible  difficulties  on  the  route,  for  he  went  down  so  early  in  the  spring. 


CHAPTER   VI 

1682-1684 

RADISSON   GIVES   UP  A  CAREER  IN  THE   NAVY    FOR 
THE  FUR  TRADE 

Though  opposed  by  the  Monopolists  of  Quebec,  he  secures  Ships  for  a 
Vovage  to  Hudson  Bay  —  Here  he  encounters  a  Pirate  Ship  from 
Boston  and  an  English  Ship  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  —  How 
he  plays  his  Cards  to  win  against  Both  Rivals 

A  CLEVER  man  may  be  a  dangerous  rival.  Both 
France  and  England  recognized  this  in  Radisson. 
The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  distrusted  him  because 
he  was  a  foreigner.  The  fur  traders  of  Quebec  were 
jealous.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  offered 
him  a  pension  of  ^100  a  year  to  do  nothing,  France 
had  pardoned  his  secession  to  England,  paid  his  debts, 
and  given  him  a  position  in  the  navy,  and  when  the 
fleet  was  wrecked  returning  from  the  campaign  against 
Dutch  possessions  in  the  West  Indies,  the  French 
king  advanced  money  for  Radisson  to  refit  himself; 
but  France  distrusted  the  explorer  because  he  had  an 
English  wife.  All  that  France  and  England  wanted 
Radisson  to  do  was  to  keep  quiet.     What  the  haughty 

150 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP    A    CAREER 


151 


spirit  of  Radisson  would  not  do  for  all  the  fortunes 
which  two  nations  could  offer  to  bribe  him — was  to 
keep  quiet.  He  cared  more  for  the  game  than  the 
winnings  ;  and  the  game  of  sitting  still  and  drawing  a 
pension  for  doing  nothing  was 
altogether  too  tame  for  Radisson. 
Groseillers  gave  up  the  struggle 
and  retired  for  the  time  to  his 
family  at  Three  Rivers.  At  Que- 
bec, in  1676,  Radisson  heard  of 
others  everywhere  reaping  where  he 
had  sown.  Jolliet  and  La  Salle 
were  preparing  to  push  the  fur 
trade  of  New  France  westward 
of  the  Great  Lakes,  where  Radisson  had  penetrated 
twenty  years  previously.  Fur  traders  of  Quebec,  who 
organized  under  the  name  of  the  Company  of  the 
North,  yearly  sent  their  canoes  up  the  Ottawa,  St. 
Maurice,  and  Saguenay  to  the  forests  south  of  Hudson 
Bay,  which  Radisson  had  traversed.  On  the  bay 
itself  the  English  company  were  entrenched.  North, 
northwest,  and  west,  Radisson  had  been  the  explorer ; 
but  the  reward  of  his  labor  had  been  snatched  by 
other  hands. 

Radisson  must  have  served  meritoriously  on  the 
fleet,  for  after  the  wreck  he  was  offered  the  command 
of  a   man-of-war  ;  but  he  asked  for  a  commission  to 


Skin  for  Skin,"  Coat  of 
Arnis  and  Motto,  Hud- 
son's  Bay  Company. 


152     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

New  France.  From  this  request  there  arose  com- 
plications. His  wife's  family,  the  Kirkes,  had  held 
claims  against  New  France  from  the  days  when  the 
Kirkes  of  Boston  had  captured  Quebec.  These 
claims  now  amounted  to  ^40,000.  M.  Colbert,  the 
great  French  statesman,  hesitated  to  give  a  commission 
to  a  man  allied  by  marriage  with  the  enemies  of  New 
France,  Radisson  at  last  learned  why  preferment  had 
been  denied  him.  It  was  on  account  of  his  wife. 
Twice  Radisson  journeyed  to  London  for  Mary 
Kirke.  Those  were  times  of  an  easy  change  in  faith. 
Charles  II  was  playing  double  with  Catholics  and 
Protestants.  The  Kirkes  were  closely  attached  to  the 
court ;  and  it  was,  perhaps,  not  difficult  for  the  Hugue- 
not wife  to  abjure  Protestantism  and  declare  herself  a 
convert  to  the  religion  of  her  husband.  But  when 
Radisson  proposed  taking  her  back  to  France,  that 
was  another  matter.  Sir  John  Kirke  forbade  his 
daughter's  departure  till  the  claims  of  the  Kirke 
family  against  New  France  had  been  paid.  When 
Radisson  returned  without  his  wife,  he  was  reproached 
by  M.  Colbert  for  disloyalty.  The  government  re- 
fused its  patronage  to  his  plans  for  the  fur  trade  ;  but 
M.  Colbert  sent  him  to  confer  with  La  Chesnaye,  a 
prominent  fur  trader  and  member  of  the  Council  in 
New  France,  who  happened  to  be  in  Paris  at  that  time. 
La  Chesnaye  had  been  sent   out  to    Canada  to  look 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     153 

after  the  affairs  of  a  Rouen  fur-trading  company.  Soon 
he  became  a  commissioner  of  the  West  Indies  Com- 
pany ;  and  when  the  merchants  of  Quebec  organized 
the  Company  of  the  North,  La  Chesnaye  became  a 
director.  No  one  knew  better  than  he  how  bitterly 
the  monopohsts  of  Quebec  would  oppose  Radisson's 
plans  for  a  trip  to  Hudson  Bay  ;  but  the  prospects 
were  alluring.  La  Chesnaye  was  deeply  involved  in 
the  fur  trade  and  snatched  at  the  chance  of  profits  to 
stave  off  the  bankruptcy  that  reduced  him  to  beggary 
a  few  years  later.  In  defiance  of  the  rival  companies 
and  independent  of  those  with  which  he  was  connected, 
he  offered  to  furnish  ships  and  share  profits  with  Rad- 
isson  and  Groseillers  for  a  voyage  to  Hudson  Bay. 

M.  Colbert  did  not  give  his  patronage  to  the 
scheme  ;  but  he  wished  Radisson  a  God-speed.  The 
Jesuits  advanced  Radisson  money  to  pay  his  passage  ; 
and  in  the  fall  of  168 1,  he  arrived  in  Quebec.  La 
Chesnaye  met  him,  and  Groseillers  was  summoned. 
The  three  then  went  to  the  Chateau  Saint-Louis  to 
lay  their  plans  before  the  governor.  Though  the 
privileges  of  the  West  Indies  Company  had  been  cur- 
tailed, the   fur  trade  was    again   regulated   by    license.^ 

^  Within  ten  years  so  many  different  regulations  were  promulgated  on  the  fur  trade 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  keep  track  of  them.  In  1673  orders  came  from  Paris 
forbidding  French  settlers  of  New  France  from  wandering  in  the  woods  for  longer  than 
twenty-four  hours.  In  1672  M.  Frontenac  forbade  the  selling  of  merchandise  to 
coureurs  du  bois,  or  the  purchase  of  furs  from  them.      In  1675  a  decree  of  the  Council 


154     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Frontenac  had  granted  a  license  to  the  Company  of 
the  North  for  the  fur  trade  of  Hudson  Bay.  He 
could  not  openly  favor  Radisson ;  but  he  winked  at 
the  expedition  by  granting  passports  to  the  explorers, 
and  the  three  men  who  were  to  accompany  him,  Jean 
Baptiste,  son  of  Groseillers,  Pierre  Allemand,  the  pilot 
who  was  afterward  given  a  commission  to  explore  the 
Eskimo  country,  and  Jean  Godefroy,  an  interpreter.^ 
Jean  Baptiste,  Radisson's  nephew,  invested  XS^o  in 
goods  for  barter.  Others  of  Three  Rivers  and  Quebec 
advanced  money  to  provision  the  ship.^  Ten  days 
after  Radisson's  arrival  in  Quebec,  the  explorers  had 
left  the  high  fortress  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  winter  in 
Acadia.  When  spring  came,  they  went  with  the 
fishing  fleets  to  Isle  Percee,  where  La  Chesnaye 
was  to  send  the  ships.      Radisson's  ship,  the  Sl  Pierre, 

of  State  awarded  to  M.  Jean  Oudiette  one-fourth  of  all  beaver,  with  the  exclusive  right 
of  buying  and  selling  in  Canada.  In  1676  Frontenac  withdrew  from  the  Cie  Indes  Occi- 
dentales  all  the  rights  it  had  over  Canada  and  other  places.  An  ordinance  of  October  i, 
1682,  forbade  all  trade  except  under  license.  An  ordinance  in  1684  ordered  all  fur 
traders  trading  in  Hudson  Bay  to  pay  one-fourth  to  Farmers  of  the  Revenue. 

1  It  is  hard  to  tell  who  this  Godefroy  was.  Of  all  the  famous  Godefroys  of  Three 
Rivers  (according  to  Abbe  Tanguay)  there  was  only  one,  Jean  Batiste,  born  1658, 
who  might  have  gone  with  Radisson  ;  but  I  hardly  think  so.  The  Godefroys  descended 
from  the  French  nobility  and  themselves  bore  titles  from  the  king,  but  in  spite  of  this, 
were  the  best  canoemen  of  New  France,  as  ready  —  according  to  Mr.  Suite  —  to  faire 
la  cuisine  as  to  command  a  fort.  Radisson's  Godefroy  evidently  went  in  the  capacity 
of  a  servant,  for  his  name  is  not  mentioned  in  the  official  list  of  promoters.  On  the 
other  hand,  parish  records  do  not  give  the  date  of  Jean  Batiste  Godefroy's  death  ;  so 
that  he  may  have  gone  as  a  servant  and  died  in  the  North. 

■■^  State  Papers,  1 68 3,  state  that  Dame  Sorel,  La  Chesnaye,  Chaujon,  Gitton, 
Forct,  and  others  advanced  money  for  the  goods. 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     155 

—  named  after  himself,  —  came  first,  a  rickety  sloop  of 
fifty  tons  with  a  crew  of  twelve  mutinous,  ill-fed  men, 
a  cargo  of  goods  for  barter,  and  scant  enough  supply 
of  provisions.  Groseillers'  ship,  the  Sl  Anne,  was 
smaller  and  better  built,  with  a  crew  of  fifteen.  The 
explorers  set  sail  on  the  iith  of  July.  From  the  first 
there  was  trouble  with  the  crews.  Fresh-water 
voyageurs  make  bad  ocean  sailors.  Food  was  short. 
The  voyage  was  to  be  long.  It  was  to  unknown 
waters,  famous  for  disaster.  The  sea  was  boisterous. 
In  the  months  of  June  and  July,  the  North  Atlantic 
is  beset  with  fog  and  iceberg.  The  ice  sweeps  south 
in  mountainous  bergs  that  have  thawed  and  split  before 
they  reach  the  temperate  zones. ^  On  the  30th  of 
July  the  two  ships  passed  the  Straits  of  Belle  Isle. 
Fog-banks  hung  heavy  on  the  blue  of  the  far  watery 
horizon.  Out  of  the  fog,  like  ghosts  in  gloom,  drifted 
the  shadowy  ice-floes.  The  coast  of  Labrador  con- 
sists of  bare,  domed,  lonely  hills  alternated  with  rock 
walls  rising  sheer  from  the  sea  as  some  giant  masonry. 
Here  the  rock  is  buttressed  by  a  sharp  angle  knife- 
edged  in  a  precipice.  There,  the  beetling  walls  are 
guarded  by  long  reefs  like  the  teeth  of  a  saw.  Over 
these  reefs,  the  drifting  tide  breaks  with  multitudinous 

1  In  1898,  when  up  the  coast  of  Labrador,  1  was  told  by  the  superintendent  of  a 
northern  whaling  station  —  a  man  who  has  received  royal  decorations  for  his  scientific 
research  of  ocean  phenomena  —  that  he  has  frequently  seen  icebergs  off  Labrador  that 
were  nine  miles  long. 


156     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

voices.  The  French  voyageurs  had  never  known  such 
seafaring.  In  the  wail  of  the  white-foamed  reefs, 
their  superstition  heard  the  shriek  of  the  demons. 
The  explorers  had  anchored  in  one  of  the  sheltered 
harbors,  which  the  sailors  call  "  holes-in-the-wall." 
The  crews  mutinied.  They  would  go  no  farther 
through  ice-drift  and  fog  to  an  unknown  sea.  Radis- 
son  never  waited  for  the  contagion  of  fear  to  work. 
He  ordered  anchors  up  and  headed  for  open  sea. 
Then  he  tried  to  encourage  the  sailors  with  promises. 
They  would  not  hear  him ;  for  the  ship's  galley  was 
nearly  empty  of  food.  Then  Radisson  threatened  the 
first  mutineer  to  show  rebellion  with  such  severe  pun- 
ishment as  the  hard  customs  of  the  age  permitted. 
The  crew  sulked,  biding  its  time.  At  that  moment 
the  lookout  shouted  "  Sail  ho  !  " 

All  hands  discerned  a  ship  with  a  strange  sail,  such 
as  Dutch  and  Spanish  pirates  carried,  bearing  down 
upon  them  shoreward.  The  lesser  fear  was  forgotten 
in  the  greater.  The  St.  Pierre  s  crew  crowded  sail. 
Heading  about,  the  two  explorers'  ships  threaded  the 
rock  reefs  like  pursued  deer.  The  pirate  came  on  full 
speed  before  the  wind.  Night  fell  while  Radisson  was 
still  hiding  among  the  rocks.  Notwithstanding  reefs 
and  high  seas,  while  the  pirate  ship  hove  to  for  the 
night,  Radisson  stole  out  in  the  dark  and  gave  his 
pursuer  the  slip.      The  chase  had  saved  him  a  mutiny. 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP    A    CAREER     157 

As  the  vessels  drove  northward,  the  ice  drifted  past 
like  a  white  world  afloat.  When  Radisson  approached 
the  entrance  to  Hudson  Bay,  he  met  floes  in  impene- 
trable masses.  So  far  the  ships  had  avoided  delay  by 
tacking  along  the  edges  of  the  ice-fields,  from  lake  to 
lake  of  ocean  surrounded  by  ice.  Now  the  ice  began 
to  crush  together,  driven  by  wind  and  tide  with  furious 
enough  force  to  snap  the  two  ships  like  egg-shells. 
Radisson  watched  for  a  free  passage,  and,  with  a  wind  to 
rear,  scudded  for  shelter  of  a  hole-in-the-wall.  Here 
he  met  the  Eskimo,  and  provisions  were  replenished ; 
but  the  dangers  of  the  ice-fields  had  frightened  the 
crews  again.  In  two  days  Radisson  put  to  sea  to  avoid 
a  second  mutiny.  The  wind  was  landward,  driving  the 
ice  back  from  the  straits,  and  they  passed  safely  into 
Hudson  Bay.  The  ice  again  surrounded  them;  but 
it  was  useless  for  the  men  to  mutiny.  Ice  blocked 
up  all  retreat.  Jammed  among  the  floes,  Groseillers 
was  afraid  to  carry  sail,  and  fell  behind.  Radisson 
drove  ahead,  now  skirting  the  ice-floes,  now  pounded 
by  breaking  icebergs,  now  crashing  into  surface  brash 
or  puddled  ice  to  the  fore.  "  We  were  like  to  have 
perished,"  he  writes,  "  but  God  was  pleased  to  pre- 
serve us." 

On  the  26th  of  August,  six  weeks  after  sailing  from 
Isle  Percee,  Radisson  rode  triumphantly  in  on  the 
tide  to  Hayes  River,  south  of  Nelson   River,  where 


158     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

he  had  been  with  the  EngHsh  ships  ten  years  before. 
Two  weeks  later  the  Ste.  Anne,  with  Groseillers, 
arrived.  The  two  ships  cautiously  ascended  the  river, 
seeking  a  harbor.  Fifteen  miles  from  salt  water, 
Radisson  anchored.  At  last  he  was  back  in  his 
native  element,  the  wilderness,  where  man  must  set 
himself  to  conquer  and  take  dominion  over  earth. 

Groseillers  was  always  the  trader,  Radisson  the 
explorer.  Leaving  his  brother-in-law  to  build  the 
fort,  Radisson  launched  a  canoe  on  Hayes  River  to 
explore  inland.  Young  Jean  Groseillers  accompanied 
him  to  look  after  the  trade  with  the  Indians.^  For 
eight  days  they  paddled  up  a  river  that  was  destined 
to  be  the  path  of  countless  traders  and  pioneers  for 
two  centuries,  and  that  may  yet  be  destined  to  become 
the  path  of  a  northern  commerce.  By  September  the 
floodtide  of  Hayes  River  had  subsided.  In  a  week 
the  voyageurs  had  travelled  probably  three  hundred 
miles,  and  were  within  the  region  of  Lake  Winnipeg, 
where  the  Cree  hunters  assemble  in  October  for  the 
winter.  Radisson  had  come  to  this  region  by  way 
of  Lake  Superior  with  the  Cree  hunters  twenty  years 
before,  and  his  visit  had  become  a  tradition  among 
the  tribes.  Beaver  are  busy  in  October  gnawing  down 
young  saplings  for  winter  food.  Radisson  observed 
chips  floating  past  the  canoe.     Where  there  are  beaver, 

1  Jean  was  born  in  1654  and  was,  therefore,  twenty-eight. 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP    A    CAREER     i 


59 


there  should  be  Indians;  so  the  voyageurs  paddled 
on.  One  night,  as  they  lay  round  the  camp-fire, 
with  canoes  overturned,  a  deer,  startled  from  its 
evening  drinking-place,  bounded  from  the  thicket.  A 
sharp  whistle  —  and  an  Indian  ran  from  the  brush  of 
an  island  opposite  the  camp,  signalling  the  white  men 
to  head  the  deer  back ;  but  when  Radisson  called  from 
the  waterside,  the  savage  took  fright  and  dashed  for 
the  woods. 

All  that  night  the  voyageurs  kept  sleepless  guard. 
In  the  morning  they  moved  to  the  island  and  kindled 
a  signal-fire  to  call  the  Indians.  In  a  little  while 
canoes  cautiously  skirted  the  island,  and  the  chief  of 
the  band  stood  up,  bow  and  arrow  in  hand.  Pointing 
his  arrows  to  the  deities  of  north,  south,  east,  and  west, 
he  broke  the  shaft  to  splinters,  as  a  signal  of  peace,  and 
chanted  his  welcome  :  — 

<*  Ho,  young  men,  be  not  afraid  ! 
The  sun  is  favorable  to  us  ! 
Our  enemies  shall  fear  us  ! 
This  is  the  man  we  have  wished 
Since  the  days  of  our  fathers  ! ' ' 

With  a  leap,  the  chief  sprang  into  the  water  and 
swam  ashore,  followed  by  all  the  canoes.  Radisson 
called  out  to  know  who  was  commander.  The  chief, 
with  a  sign  as  old  and  universal  as  humanity,  bowed 
his   head  in   servility.     Radisson  took  the   Indian  by 


i6o     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

the   hand,  and,   seating   him  by  the  fire,  chanted   an 
answer  in  Cree  :  — 

*'  I  know  all  the  earth  ! 

Your  friends  shall  be  my  friends  ! 

I  come  to  bring  you  arms  to  destroy  your  enemies  ! 

Nor  wife  nor  child  shall  die  of  hunger  ! 

For  I  have  brought  you  merchandise  ! 

Be  of  good  cheer  ! 

I  will  be  thy  son  ! 

I  have  brought  thee  a  father  ! 

He  is  yonder  below  building  a  fort 

Where  I  have  two  great  ships  !  "  ^ 

The  chief  kept  pace  with  the  profuse  compliments 
by  vowing  the  life  of  his  tribe  in  service  of  the 
white  man.  Radisson  presented  pipes  and  tobacco  to 
the  Indians.  For  the  chief  he  reserved  a  fowling- 
piece  with  powder  and  shot.  White  man  and  Indian 
then  exchanged  blankets.  Presents  were  sent  for  the 
absent  wives.  The  savages  were  so  grateful  that  they 
cast  all  their  furs  at  Radisson's  feet,  and  promised  to 
bring  their  hunt  to  the  fort  in  spring.  In  Paris  and 
London  Radisson  had  been  harassed  by  jealousy.      In 

1  I  have  written  both  addresses  as  the  Indians  would  chant  them.  To  be  sure,  they 
will  not  scan  according  to  the  elephantine  grace  of  the  pedant's  iambics  ;  but  then, 
neither  will  the  Indian  songs  scan,  though  I  know  of  nothing  more  subtly  rhythmical. 
Rhythm  is  so  much  a  part  of  the  Indian  that  it  is  in  his  walk,  in  the  intonation  of  his 
words,  in  the  gesture  of  his  hands.  1  think  most  Westerners  will  bear  me  out  in 
saying  that  it  is  the  exquisitely  musical  intonation  of  words  that  betrays  Indian  blood  to 
the  third  and  fourth  generation. 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     i6i 

the  wilderness  he  was  master  of  circumstance  ;    but  a 
surprise  awaited  him  at  Groseillers'  fort. 

The  French  habitation  —  called  Fort  Bourbon  — 
had  been  built  on  the  north  shore  of  Hayes  or 
Ste.  Therese  River.  Directly  north,  overland,  was 
another  broad  river  with  a  gulflike  entrance.  This 
was  the  Nelson.  Between  the  two  rivers  ran  a  nar- 
row neck  of  swampy,  bush-grown  land.  The  day  that 
Radisson  returned  to  the  newly  erected  fort,  there 
rolled  across  the  marshes  the  ominous  echo  of  can- 
non-firing. Who  could  the  newcomers  be  ?  A  week's 
sail  south  at  the  head  of  the  bay  were  the  English 
establishments  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
season  was  far  advanced.  Had  English  ships  come  to 
winter  on  Nelson  River  ?  Ordering  Jean  Groseillers 
to  go  back  inland  to  the  Indians,  Radisson  launched 
down  Hayes  River  in  search  of  the  strange  ship.  He 
went  to  the  salt  water,  but  saw  nothing.  Upon  return- 
ing, he  found  that  Jean  Groseillers  had  come  back  to 
the  fort  with  news  of  more  cannonading  farther  inland. 
Radisson  rightly  guessed  that  the  ship  had  sailed  up 
Nelson  River,  firing  cannon  as  she  went  to  notify 
Indians  for  trade.  Picking  out  three  intrepid  men, 
Radisson  crossed  the  marsh  by  a  creek  which  the 
Indian  canoes  used,  to  go  to  Nelson  River.^  Through 
the  brush  the  scout  spied  a  white  tent  on  an  island. 

1  See  Robson's  map. 

M 


i62     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

All  night  the  Frenchmen  lay  in  the  woods,  watching 
their  rivals  and  hoping  that  some  workman  might 
pass  close  enough  to  be  seized  and  questioned.  At 
noon,  next  day,  Radisson's  patience  was  exhausted. 
He  paddled  round  the  island,  and  showed  himself  a 
cannon-shot  distant  from  the  fort.  Holding  up  a 
pole,  Radisson  waved  as  if  he  were  an  Indian  afraid 
to  approach  closer  in  order  to  trade.  The  others 
hallooed  a  welcome  and  gabbled  out  Indian  words 
from  a  guide-book.  Radisson  paddled  a  length  closer. 
The  others  ran  eagerly  down  to  the  water  side  away 
from  their  cannon.  In  signal  of  friendship,  they 
advanced  unarmed.  Radisson  must  have  laughed  to 
see  how  well  his  ruse  worked. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  he  demanded  in  plain  English, 
"and  what  do  you  want?"  The  traders  called  back 
that  they  were  Englishmen  come  for  beaver.  Again 
the  crafty  Frenchman  must  have  laughed ;  for  he 
knew  very  well  that  all  English  ships  except  those 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  prohibited  by  law 
from  coming  here  to  trade. ^  Though  the  strange  ship 
displayed  an  English  ensign,  the  flag  did  not  show  the 
magical  letters  "  H.  B.  C." 

"  Whose  commission  have  you  ? "  pursued  Radis- 
son. 

1  State  Papers:  "The  Governor  of  New  England  is  ordered  to  seize  all  vessels 
trading  in  Hudson  Bay  contrary  to  charter  —  " 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP    A    CAREER     163 

"  No  commission  —  New  Englanders,"  answered  the 
others. 

"  Contrabands,"  thought  Radisson  to  himself. 
Then  he  announced  that  he  had  taken  possession  of 
all  that  country  for  France,  had  built  a  strong  fort, 
and  expected  more  ships.  In  a  word,  he  advised  the 
New  Englanders  to  save  themselves  by  instant  flight ; 
but  his  canoe  had  glided  nearer.  To  Radisson's  sur- 
prise, he  discovered  that  the  leader  of  the  New  Eng- 


Hudson's  Bay  Company  Coins,  naade   of  Lead  melted  from  Tea  Chests 
at  York  Factory,  each  Coin  representing  so  many  Beaver  Skins. 

land  poachers  was  Ben  Gillam  of  Boston,  son  of 
Captain  Gillam,  the  trusted  servant  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  who  had  opposed  Radisson  and  Gro- 
seillers  on  Rupert's  River.  It  looked  as  if  the  con- 
traband might  be  a  venture  of  the  father  as  well  as 
the  son,^  Radisson  and  young  Gillam  recognized 
each  other  with  a  show  of  friendliness,  Gillam  inviting 
Radisson  to  inspect  the  ship  with  much  the  same 
motive  that  the  fabled  spider  invited  the  fly.      Radis- 

1  Radisson'' s  Journal^  p.  277. 


i64     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

son  took  tactful  precaution  for  his  own  liberty  by 
graciously  asking  that  two  of  the  New  England  ser- 
vants go  down  to  the  canoe  with  the  three  French- 
men. No  sooner  had  Radisson  gone  on  the  New 
England  ship  than  young  Gillam  ordered  cannon 
fired  and  English  flags  run  up.  Having  made  that 
brave  show  of  strength,  the  young  man  proposed 
that  the  French  and  the  New  Englanders  should 
divide  the  traffic  between  them  for  the  winter.  Radis- 
son diplomatically  suggested  that  such  an  important 
proposal  be  laid  before  his  colleagues.  In  leaving, 
he  advised  Gillam  to  keep  his  men  from  wandering 
beyond  the  island,  lest  they  sufi^er  wrong  at  the 
hands  of  the  French  soldiers.  Incidentally,  that 
advice  would  also  keep  the  New  Englanders  from 
learning  how  desperately  weak  the  French  really 
were.  Neither  leader  was  in  the  slightest  deceived 
by  the  other;  each  played  for  time  to  take  the 
other  unawares,  and  each  knew  the  game  that  was 
being  played. 

Instead  of  returning  by  the  creek  that  cut  athwart 
the  neck  of  land  between  the  two  rivers,  Radisson 
decided  to  go  down  Nelson  River  to  the  bay,  round 
the  point,  and  ascend  Hayes  River  to  the  French 
quarters.  Cogitating  how  to  frighten  young  Gillam 
out  of  the  country  or  else  to  seize  him,  Radisson 
glided     down     the     swift     current    of    Nelson    River 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A   CAREER     165 

toward  salt  water.  He  had  not  gone  nine  miles 
from  the  New  Englanders  when  he  was  astounded 
by  the  spectacle  of  a  ship  breasting  with  full-blown 
sails  up  the  tide  of  the  Nelson  directly  in  front  of 
the  French  canoe.  The  French  dashed  for  the  hiding 
of  the  brushwood  on  shore.  From  their  concealment 
they  saw  that  the  ship  was  a  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
vessel,  armed  with  cannon  and  commission  for  lawful 
trade.  If  once  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ship  and 
the  New  Englanders  united,  the  English  would  be 
strong  enough  to  overpower  the  French. 

The  majority  of  leaders  would  have  escaped  the 
impending  disaster  by  taking  ingloriously  to  their 
heels.  Radisson,  with  that  adroit  presence  of  mind 
which  characterized  his  entire  life,  had  provided  for 
his  followers'  safety  by  landing  them  on  the  south 
shore,  where  the  French  could  flee  across  the  marsh 
to  the  ships  if  pursued.  Then  his  only  thought  was 
how  to  keep  the  rivals  apart.  Instantly  he  had  an 
enormous  bonfire  kindled.  Then  he  posted  his 
followers  in  ambush.  The  ship  mistook  the  fire  for 
an  Indian  signal,  reefed  its  sails,  and  anchored.  Usu- 
ally natives  paddled  out  to  the  traders'  ships  to  barter. 
These  Indians  kept  in  hiding.  The  ship  waited  for 
them  to  come ;  and  Radisson  waited  for  the  ship's 
hands  to  land.  In  the  morning  a  gig  boat  was 
lowered  to  row  ashore.      In  it  were  Captain   Gillam, 


i66     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

Radisson's  personal  enemy,  John  Brldgar,^  the  new 
governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  Nelson 
River,  and  six  sailors.  All  were  heavily  armed,  yet 
Radisson  stood  alone  to  receive  them,  with  his  three 
companions  posted  on  the  outskirts  of  the  woods  as 
if  in  command  of  ambushed  forces.  Fortune  is  said 
to  favor  the  dauntless,  and  just  as  the  boat  came 
within  gunshot  of  the  shore,  it  ran  aground.  A 
sailor  jumped  out  to  drag  the  craft  up  the  bank. 
They  were  all  at  Radisson's  mercy  —  without  cover. 
He  at  once  levelled  his  gun  with  a  shout  of  "  Halt  1  " 
At  the  same  moment  his  own  men  made  as  if  to  sally 
from  the  woods.  The  English  imagined  themselves 
ambushed,  and  called  out  that  they  were  the  officers 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Radisson  declared 
who  he  was  and  that  he  had  taken  possession  of  the 
country  for  France.  His  musket  was  still  levelled. 
His  men  were  ready  to  dash  forward.  The  English 
put  their  heads  together  and  decided  that  discretion 
was  the  better  part  of  valor.  Governor  Bridgar 
meekly  requested  permission  to  land  and  salute  the 
commander  of  the  French.  Then  followed  a  pom- 
pous melodrama  of  bravado,  each  side  affecting  sham 
strength.  Radisson  told  the  English  all  that  he  had 
told  the  New  Englanders,  going  on  board  the  Com- 
pany's ship  to  dine,  while  English  hostages  remained 

'  Robson  gives  the  commission  to  this  governor. 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     167 

with  his  French  followers.  For  reasons  which  he  did 
not  reveal,  he  strongly  advised  Governor  Bridgar  not 
to  go  fiirther  up  Nelson  River.  Above  all,  he  warned 
Captain  Gillam  not  to  permit  the  English  sailors  to 
wander  inland.  Having  exchanged  compliments, 
Radisson  took  gracious  leave  of  his  hosts,  and  with 
his  three  men  slipped  down  the  Nelson  in  their 
canoe.  Past  a  bend  in  the  river,  he  ordered  the 
canoe  ashore.  The  French  then  skirted  back  through 
the  woods  and  lay  watching  the  English  till  satisfied 
that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ship  would  go  no 
nearer  the  island  where  Ben  Gillam  lay  hidden. 

Groseillers  and  his  son  looked  after  the  trade  that 
winter.  Radisson  had  his  hands  full  keeping  the  two 
English  crews  apart.  Ten  days  after  his  return,  he 
again  left  Hayes  River  to  see  what  his  rivals  were 
doing.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  ship  had  gone 
aground  in  the  ooze  a  mile  from  the  fort  where  Gov- 
ernor Bridgar  had  taken  up  quarters.  That  division  of 
forces  weakened  the  English  fort.  Introducing  his 
man  as  captain  of  a  French  ship,  Radisson  entered  the 
governor's  house.  The  visitors  drained  a  health  to 
their  host  and  fired  off  muskets  to  learn  whether  senti- 
nels were  on  guard.  No  attention  was  paid  to  the 
unwonted  noise.  "  I  judged,"  writes  Radisson,  "  that 
they  were  careless,  and  might  easily  be  surprised." 
He  then  went  across  to  the  river  flats,  where  the  tide 


i68     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

had  left  the  vessel,  and,  calmly  mounting  the  ladder, 
took  a  survey  of  Gillam's  ship.  When  the  irate  old 
captain  rushed  up  to  know  the  meaning  of  the 
intrusion  Radisson  suavely  proffered  provisions,  of 
which  they  were   plainly  in   need. 

The  New  Englanders  had  been  more  industrious. 
A  stoutly  palisaded  fort  had  been  completed  on  young 
Gillam's  island,  and  cannon  commanded  all  approach. 
Radisson  fired  a  musket  to  notify  the  sentry,  and  took 
care  to  beach  his  canoe  below  the  range  of  the  guns. 
Young  Gillam  showed  a  less  civil  front  than  before. 
His  lieutenant  ironically  congratulated  Radisson  on 
his  "  safe  "  return,  and  invited  him  to  visit  the  fort  if 
he  would  enter  alone.  When  Radisson  would  have 
introduced  his  four  followers,  the  lieutenant  swore  "  if 
the  four  French  were  forty  devils,  they  could  not  take 
the  New  Englanders'  fort."  The  safety  of  the  French 
habitation  now  hung  by  a  hair.  Everything  depended 
on  keeping  the  two  English  companies  apart,  and 
they  were  distant  only  nine  miles.  The  scheme  must 
have  flashed  on  Radisson  in  an  intuition  ;  for  he  laid 
his  plans  as  he  listened  to  the  boastings  of  the 
New  Englanders.  If  father  and  son  could  be  brought 
together  through  Radisson's  favor,  Captain  Gillam 
would  keep  the  jMiglish  from  coming  to  the  New 
England  fort  lest  his  son  should  be  seized  for  poach- 
ing on   the  trade  of  the  Company;  and   Ben   Gillam 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     169 

would  keep  his  men  from  going  near  the  English  fort 
lest  Governor  Bridgar  should  learn  of  the  contraband 
ship  from  Boston.  Incidentally,  both  sides  would  be 
prevented  from  knowing  the  weakness  of  the  French 
at  Fort  Bourbon.  At  once  Radisson  told  young 
Gillam  of  his  father's  presence.  Ben  was  eager  to  see 
his  father  and,  as  he  thought,  secure  himself  from 
detection  in  illegal  trade.  Radisson  was  to  return 
to  the  old  captain  with  the  promised  provisions. 
He  offered  to  take  young  Gillam,  disguised  as  a 
bush-ranger.  In  return,  he  demanded  (i)  that  the 
New  Englanders  should  not  leave  their  fort ;  (2)  that 
they  should  not  betray  themselves  by  discharging  can- 
non ;  (3)  that  they  shoot  any  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
people  who  tried  to  enter  the  New  England  fort.  To 
young  Gillam  these  terms  seemed  designed  for  his 
own  protection.  What  they  really  accomplished  was 
the  complete  protection  of  the  French  from  united 
attack.  Father  and  son  would  have  put  themselves 
in  Radisson's  power.  A  word  of  betrayal  to  Bridgar, 
the  Hudson's  Bay  governor,  and  both  the  Gillams 
would  be  arrested  for  illegal  trade.  Ben  Gillam's 
visit  to  his  father  was  fraught  with  all  the  danger  that 
Radisson's  daring  could  have  desired.  A  seaman  half 
suspected  the  identity  of  the  bush-ranger,  and  Gov- 
ernor Bridgar  wanted  to  know  how  Radisson  had  re- 
turned  so  soon   when   the   French  fort  was   far  away. 


lyo     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

"  I  told  him,  smiling,"  writes  Radisson,  "  that  I  could 
fly    when   there   was   need   to   serve   my   friends." 

Young  Gillam  had  begun  to  suspect  the  weakness 
of  the  French.  When  the  two  were  safely  out  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  fort,  he  offered  to  go  home 
part  of  the  way  with  Radisson.  This  was  to  learn 
where  the  French  fort  lay.  Radisson  declined  the 
kindly  service  and  deliberately  set  out  from  the  New 
Englanders'  island  in  the  wrong  direction,  coming 
down  the  Nelson  past  young  Gillam's  fort  at  night. 
The  delay  of  the  trick  nearly  cost  Radisson  his  life. 
Fall  rains  had  set  in,  and  the  river  was  running  a  mill- 
race.  Great  floes  of  ice  from  the  North  were  tossing 
on  the  bay  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nelson  River  in  a 
maelstrom  of  tide  and  wind.  In  the  dark  Radisson 
did  not  see  how  swiftly  his  canoe  had  been  carried 
down-stream.  Before  he  knew  it  his  boat  shot  out 
of  the  river  among  the  tossing  ice-floes  of  the  bay. 
Surrounded  by  ice  in  a  wild  sea,  he  could  not  get  back 
to  land.  The  spray  drove  over  the  canoe  till  the 
Frenchman's  clothes  were  stifi^  with  ice.  For  four 
hours  they  lay  jammed  in  the  ice-drift  till  a  sudden 
upheaval  crushed  the  canoe  to  kindling  wood  and  left 
the  men  stranded  on  the  ice.  Running  from  floe  to 
floe,  they  gained  the  shore  and  beat  their  way  for 
three  days  through  a  raging  hurricane  of  sleet  and 
snow  toward  the   French   habitation.     They   were  on 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP    A    CAREER     171 

the  side  of  the  Hayes  opposite  the  French  fort.  Four 
voyageurs  crossed  for  them,  and  the  httle  company  at 
last  gained  the  shelter  of  a  roof. 

Radisson  now  knew  that  young  Gillam  intended  to 
spy  upon  the  French  ;  so  he  sent  scouts  to  watch  the 
New  Englanders'  fort.  The  scouts  reported  that  the 
young  captain  had  sent  messengers  to  obtain  additional 
men  from  his  father  ;  but  the  New  England  soldiers, 
remembering  Radisson's  orders  to  shoot  any  one 
approaching,  had  levelled  muskets  to  fire  at  the  reen- 
forcements.  The  rebuffed  men  had  gone  back  to 
Governor  Bridgar  with  word  of  a  fort  and  ship  only 
nine  miles  up  Nelson  River.  Bridgar  thought 
this  was  the  French  establishment,  and  old  Captain 
Gillam  could  not  undeceive  him.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  governor  had  sent  the  two  men  back  to  spy 
on  what  he  thought  was  a  French  fort.  At  once 
Radisson  sent  out  men  to  capture  Bridgar's  scouts, 
who  were  found  half  dead  with  cold  and  hunger.  The 
captives  reported  to  Radisson  that  the  English  ship 
had  been  totally  wrecked  in  the  ice  jam.  Bridgar's 
people  were  starving.  Many  traders  would  have  left 
their  rivals  to  perish.  Radisson  supplied  them  with 
food  for  the  winter.  They  were  no  longer  to  be 
feared ;  but  there  was  still  danger  from  young  Gillam. 
He  had  wished  to  visit  the  French  fort.  Radisson 
decided  to  give  him  an  opportunity.      Ben  Gillam  was 


172     PATHFINDERS   OF   THE    WEST 

escorted  down  to  Hayes  River.  A  month  passed 
quietly.  The  young  captain  had  learned  that  the 
boasted  forces  of  the  French  consisted  of  less  than 
thirty  men.  His  insolence  knew  no  bounds.  He 
struck  a  French  servant,  called  Radisson  a  pirate,  and 
gathering  up  his  belongings  prepared  to  go  home. 
Radisson   quietly   barred  the  young  man's  way. 

"  You  pitiful  dog !  "  said  the  Frenchman,  coolly. 
"  You  poor  young  fool !  Why  do  you  suppose  you 
were  brought  to  this  fort?  We  brought  you  here  be- 
cause it  suited  us  !  We  keep  you  here  as  long  as  it 
suits  us  !     We  take  you  back  when  it  suits  us  !  " 

Ben  Gillam  was  dumfounded  to  find  that  he  had 
been  trapped,  when  he  had  all  the  while  thought  that 
he  was  acting  the  part  of  a  clever  spy.  He  broke  out 
in  a  storm  of  abuse.  Radisson  remanded  the  foolish 
young  man  to  a  French  guard.  At  the  mess-room 
table   Radisson  addressed  his  prisoner :  — 

"  Gillam,  to-day  I  set  out  to  capture  your  fort." 

At  the  table  sat  less  than  thirty  men.  Young 
Gillam  gave  one  scornful  glance  at  the  French  faces 
and  laughed. 

"  If  you  had  a  hundred  men  instead  of  twenty," 
he  jeered. 

"  How  many  have  you,  Ben  ?  " 

"  Nine  ;  and  they'll  kill  you  before  you  reach  the 
palisades." 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     173 

Radisson  was  not  talking  of  killing. 

"  Gillam,"  he  returned  imperturbably,  "  pick  out 
nine  of  my  men,  and  I  have  your  fort  within  forty- 
eight  hours." 

Gillam  chose  the  company,  and  Radisson  took  one 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  captives  as  a  witness.  The  thing 
was  done  as  easily  as  a  piece  of  farcical  comedy. 
French  hostages  had  been  left  among  the  New  Eng- 
landers  as  guarantee  of  Gillam's  safety  in  Radisson's 
fort.  These  hostages  had  been  instructed  to  drop,  as 
if  by  chance,  blocks  of  wood  across  the  doors  of  the 
guard-room  and  powder  house  and  barracks.  Even 
these  precautions  proved  unnecessary.  Two  of  Radis- 
son's advance  guard,  who  were  met  by  the  lieutenant 
of  the  New  England  fort,  reported  that  "  Gillam 
had  remained  behind."  The  lieutenant  led  the  two 
Frenchmen  into  the  fort.  These  two  kept  the  gates 
open  for  Radisson,  who  marched  in  with  his  band, 
unopposed.  The  keys  were  delivered  and  Radisson 
was  in  possession.  At  midnight  the  watch-dogs  raised 
an  alarm,  and  the  French  sallied  out  to  find  that  a 
New  Englander  had  run  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany for  aid,  and  Governor  Bridgar's  men  were 
attacking  the  ships.  All  of  the  assailants  fled  but 
four,  whom  Radisson  caught  ransacking  the  ship's 
cabin.  Radisson  now  had  more  captives  than  he 
could  guard,  so   he  loaded  the   Hudson's   Bay  Com- 


174     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

pany  men  with  provisions  and  sent  them  back  to 
their  own  starving  fort. 

Radisson  left  the  New  England  fort  in  charge  of 
his  Frenchmen  and  returned  to  the  French  quarters. 
Strange  news  was  carried  to  him  there.  Bridgar  had 
forgotten  all  benefits,  waited  until  Radisson's  back  was 
turned,  and,  with  one  last  desperate  cast  of  the  die  to 
retrieve  all  by  capturing  the  New  England  fort  and 
ship  for  the  fur  company,  had  marched  against  young 
Gillam's  island.  The  French  threw  open  the  gates 
for  the  Hudson's  Bay  governor  to  enter.  Then  they 
turned  the  key  and  told  Governor  Bridgar  that  he  was 
a  prisoner.  Their  coup  was  a  complete  triumph  for 
Radisson.  Both  of  his  rivals  were  prisoners,  and  the 
French  flag  flew  undisputed  over  Port  Nelson. 

Spring  brought  the  Indians  down  to  the  bay  with 
the  winter's  hunt.  The  sight  of  threescore  English- 
men captured  by  twenty  Frenchmen  roused  the  war 
spirit  of  the  young  braves.  They  offered  Radisson 
two  hundred  beaver  skins  to  be  allowed  to  massacre 
he  English.  Radisson  thanked  the  savages  for  their 
good  will,  but  declined  their  offer.  Floods  had  dam- 
aged the  water-rotted  timbers  of  the  two  old  hulls  in 
which  the  explorers  voyaged  north.  It  was  agreed  to 
return  to  Quebec  in  Ben  Gillam's  boat.  A  vessel  was 
constructed  on  one  of  the  hulls  to  send  the  English 
prisoners  to  the  Hudson's    Bay  Company  forts  at  the 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     175 

south  end  of  the  bay.^  Young  Jean  Groseillers  was 
left,  with  seven  men,  to  hold  the  French  post  till  boats 
came  in  the  following  year.  On  the  27th  of  July 
the  ships  weighed  anchor  for  the  homeward  voyage. 
Young  Gillam  was  given  a  free  passage  by  way  of 
Quebec.  Bridgar  was  to  have  gone  with  his  men  to 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  forts  at  the  south  of  the 
bay,  but  at  the  last  moment  a  friendly  Englishman 
warned  Radisson  that  the  governor's  design  was  to 
wait  till  the  large  ship  had  left,  head  the  bark  back  for 
Hayes  River,  capture  the  fort,  and  put  the  French- 
men to  the  sword.  To  prevent  this  Bridgar,  too,  was 
carried  to  Quebec.  Twenty  miles  out  the  ship  was 
caught  in  ice-floes  that  held  her  for  a  month, 
and  Bridgar  again  conspired  to  cut  the  throats  of  the 
Frenchmen.  Henceforth  young  Gillam  and  Bridgar 
were  out  on  parole  during  the  day  and  kept  under 
lock  at  night. 

The  same  jealousy  as  of  old  awaited  Radisson  at 
Quebec.  The  Company  of  the  North  was  furious 
that  La  Chesnaye  had  sent  ships  to  Hudson  Bay, 
which  the  shareholders  considered  to  be  their  territory 
by  license.'^     Farmers  of  the  Revenue  beset  the  ship 

1  Later  in  Hudson  Bay  history,  when  another  commander  captured  the  forts,  the 
prisoners  were  sold  into  slavery.  Radisson' s  treatment  of  his  rivals  hardly  substantiates 
all  the  accusations  of  rascality  trumped  up  against  him.  Just  how  many  prisoners  he 
took  in  this  coup,  no  two  records  agree. 

2  Archives,    September  24,    1683:    Ordinance   of   M.    de    Meulles  regarding   the 


176     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

to  seize  the  cargo,  because  the  explorers  had  gone 
North  without  a  permit.  La  Chesnaye  saved  some  of 
the  furs  by  transshipping  them  for  France  before  the 
vessel  reached  Quebec.  Then  followed  an  intermi- 
nable lawsuit,  that  exhausted  the  profits  of  the  voyage. 
La  Barre  had  succeeded  Frontenac  as  governor.  The 
best  friends  of  La  Barre  would  scarcely  deny  that  his 
sole  ambition  as  governor  was  to  amass  a  fortune  from 
the  fur  trade  of  Canada.  Inspired  by  the  jealous 
Company  of  the  North,  he  refused  to  grant  Radisson 
prize  money  for  the  capture  of  the  contraband  ship, 
restored  the  vessel  to  Gillam,  and  gave  him  clearance 
to  sail  for  Boston.^  For  this  La  Barre  was  sharply 
reprimanded  from  France ;  but  the  reprimand  did 
not  mend  the  broken  fortunes  of  the  two  explorers, 
who  had  given  their  lives  for  the  extension  of  the 
French    domain.^     M.   Colbert    summoned    Radisson 

claims  of  persons  interested  in  the  expedition  to  Hudson  Bay,  organized  by  M.  de  la 
Chesnaye,  Gitton,  Bruneau,  Mme.  Sorel.  ...  In  order  to  avoid  difficulties  with  the 
Company  of  the  North,  they  had  placed  a  vessel  at  Isle  Percee  to  receive  the  furs  brought 
back  .  .  .  and  convey  them  to  Holland  and  Spain.  .  .  .  Joachims  de  Chalons,  agent 
of  the  Company  of  the  North,  sent  a  bateau  to  Percee  to  defeat  the  project.  De  la 
Chesnaye,  summoned  to  appear  before  the  intendant,  maintained  that  the  company  had 
no  right  to  this  trade,  .  .  .  that  the  enterprise  involved  so  many  risks  that  he  could 
not  consent  to  divide  the  profits,  if  he  had  any.  The  partners  having  been  heard, 
M.  de  MeuUes  orders  that  the  boats  from  Hudson  Bay  be  anchored  at  Quebec. 

1  Archives,  October  25,  1683  :  M.  de  la  Barre  grants  Benjamin  Gillam  of  Boston 
clearance  for  the  ship  Le  Gordon,  now  in  port  at  Quebec,  although  he  had  no  license 
from  his   Britannic  Majesty  permitting  him  to  enter  Hudson  Bay. 

2  Such  foundationless  accusations  have  been  written  against  Radisson  by  historians 
wlio  ought  to  have  known  better,  about  these  fuis,  that  I   cjuote  the  final  orders  of  the 


RADISSON    GIVES    UP   A    CAREER     177 

and  Groseillers  to  return  to  France  and  give  an 
account  of  all  they  had  done  ;  but  when  they  arrived 
in  Paris,  on  January  15,  1684,  they  learned  that  the 
great  statesman  had  died.  Lord  Preston,  the  English 
envoy,  had  lodged  such  complaints  against  them  for 
the  defeat  of  the  Englishmen  in  Hudson  Bay,  that 
France  hesitated  to  extend  public  recognition  of  their 
services. 

government  on  the  subject  :  November  5,  1683,  M.  de  la  Barre  forbids  Chalons,  agent 
of  La  Ferme  du  Canada,  confiscating  the  furs  brought  from  Hudson  Bay  ;  November  8 
M.  de  la  Chesnaye  is  to  be  paid  for  the  furs  seized. 


CHAPTER    VII 

1684-1710 

THE   LAST   VOYAGE   OF   RADISSON   TO   HUDSON 

BAY 

France  refuses  to  restore  the  Confiscated  Furs  and  Radisson  tries  to 
redeem  his  Fortune — Reengaged  by  England,  he  captures  back 
Fort  Nelson,  but  comes  to  Want  in  his  Old  Age  —  his  Character 

Radisson  was  now  near  his  fiftieth  year.  He  had 
spent  his  entire  hfe  exploring  the  wilds.  He  had 
saved  New  France  from  bankruptcy  with  cargoes  of 
furs  that  in  four  years  amounted  to  half  a  million  of 
modern  money.  In  ten  years  he  had  brought  half 
a  million  dollars  worth  of  furs  to  the  English  com- 
pany.^ Yet  he  was  a  poor  man,  threatened  with 
the  sponging-house  by  clamorous  creditors  and  in  the 
power  of  avaricious  statesmen,  who  used  him  as  a  tool 
for  their  own  schemes.  La  Chesnaye  had  saved  his 
furs  ;  but  the  half  of  the  cargo  that  was  the  share  of 
Radisson  and   Groseillers  had  been  seized  at  Quebec.^ 

1  Radisson's  petition  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  gives  these  amounts. 

2  See  State  Papers  quoted  in  Chapter  VI.  I  need  scarcely  add  that  Radisson  did 
not  steal  a  march  on  his  patrons  by  secretly  shipping  furs  to  Europe.  This  is  only 
another  of  the  innumerable  slanders  against  Radisson  which  State  Papers  disprove. 

178 


LAST    VOYAGE    OF    RADISSON       179 

On  arriving  in  France,  Groseillers  presented  a  memorial 
of  their  wrong  to  the  court.^  Probably  because  Eng- 
land and  France  were  allied  by  treaty  at  that  time, 
the  petition  for  redress  was  ignored.  Groseillers 
was  now  an  old  man.  He  left  the  struggle  to 
Radisson  and  retired  to  spend  his  days  in  quietness.^ 
Radisson  did  not  cease  to  press  his  claim  for  the 
return  of  confiscated  furs.      He   had  a  wife  and  four 


1  It  seems  impossible  that  historians  with  the  slightest  regard  for  truth  should  have 
branded  this  part  of  Radisson^ s  Relation  as  a  fabrication,  too.  Yet  such  is  the  case,  and 
of  writers  whose  books  are  supposed  to  be  reputable.  Since  parts  of  Radisson's  life  ap- 
peared in  the  magazines,  among  many  letters  I  received  one  from  a  well-known  historian 
which  to  put  it  mildly  was  furious  at  the  acceptance  of  Radision  s  Journal  ■&%  authen- 
tic. In  reply,  I  asked  that  historian  how  many  documents  contemporaneous  with 
Radisson's  life  he  had  consulted  before  he  branded  so  great  an  explorer  as  Radisson  as  a 
liar.  Needless  to  say,  that  question  was  not  answered.  In  corroboration  of  this  part 
of  Radisson's  life,  I  have  lying  before  me  :  (i)  Chouart's  letters  —  see  Appendix. 
(2)  A  letter  of  Frontenac  recording  Radisson's  first  trip  by  boat  for  De  la  Chesnaye 
and  the  complications  it  would  be  likely  to  cause.  (3)  A  complete  official  account 
sent  from  Quebec  to  France  of  Radisson's  doings  in  the  bay,  which  tallies  in  every 
respect  with  Radiaon'' s  Journal.  (4)  Report  of  M.  de  Meulles  to  the  Minister  on 
the  whole  affair  with  the  English  and  New  Englanders.  (5)  An  official  report  on  the 
release  of  Gillam's  boat  at  Quebec.  (6)  The  memorial  presented  by  Groseillers  to  the 
French  minister.  (7)  An  official  statement  of  the  first  discovery  of  the  bay  overland. 
(8)  A  complete  statement  (official)  of  the  complications  created  by  Radisson's  wife 
being  English.  (9)  A  statement  through  a  third  party  —  presumably  an  official  —  by 
Radisson  himself  of  these  complications  dated  1683.  (10)  A  letter  from  the  king  to 
the  governor  at  Quebec  retailing  the  English  complaints  of  Radisson  at  Nelson  River. 

In  the  face  of  this,  what  is  to  be  said  of  the  historian  who  calls  Radisson's  adventures 
"a  fabrication"  ?  Such  misrepresentation  betrays  about  equal  amounts  of  impudence 
and  ignorance. 

2  From  Charlevoix  to  modern  writers  mention  is  made  of  the  death  of  these  two 
explorers.  Different  names  are  given  as  the  places  where  they  died.  This  is  all  pure 
supposition.  Therefore  I  do  not  quote.  No  records  exist  to  prove  where  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  died. 


i8o     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

children  to  support ;  but,  in  spite  of  all  his  services 
to  England  and  France,  he  did  not  own  a  shilling's 
worth  of  property  in  the  whole  world.  From  Jan- 
uary to  May  he  waited  for  the  tardy  justice  of  the 
French  court.  When  his  suit  became  too  urgent,  he 
was  told  that  he  had  offended  the  Most  Christian 
King  by  attacking  the  fur  posts  under  the  protection 
of  a  friendly  monarch,  King  Charles.  The  hollow- 
ness  of  that  excuse  became  apparent  when  the  French 
government  sanctioned  the  fitting  out  of  two  vessels 
for  Radisson  to  go  to  Hudson  Bay  in  the  spring. 
Lord  Preston,  the  English  ambassador,  was  also  play- 
ing a  double  game.  He  never  ceased  to  reproach 
the  French  for  the  destruction  of  the  fur  posts  on 
Hudson  Bay.  At  the  same  time  he  besieged  Radis- 
son with  offers  to  return  to  the  service  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company. 

Radisson  was  deadly  tired  of  the  farce.  From  first 
to  last  France  had  treated  him  with  the  blackest 
injustice.  If  he  had  wished  to  be  rich,  he  could  long 
ago  have  accumulated  wealth  by  casting  in  his  lot  with 
the  dishonest  rulers  of  Quebec.  In  England  a  strong 
clique,  headed  by  Bridgar,  Gillam,  and  Bering  opposed 
him  ;  but  King  Charles  and  the  Duke  of  York, 
Prince  Rupert,  when  he  was  alive.  Sir  William 
Young,  Sir  James  Hayes,  and  Sir  John  Kirke  were 
in    his    favor.      His    heart    yearned    for  his  wife    and 


LAST   VOYAGE    OF    RADISSON 


i«i 


children.  Just  then  letters  came  from  England  urg- 
ing him  to  return  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
Lord  Preston  plied  the  explorer  with  fair  promises. 
Under  threat  of  punishment  for  molesting  the  Eng- 
lish of  Hudson  Bay,  the  French  government  tried  to 
force  him  into  a  contract  to  sail  on  a  second  voyage 
to  the  North  on  the  same  terms  as  in  1682-1683  — 
not  to  share  the  profits.  England  and  France  were 
both  playing  double.  Radisson  smiled  a  grim  smile 
and  took  his  resolution.  Daily  he  conferred  with 
the  French  Marine  on  details  of  the  voyage.  He 
permitted  the  date  of  sailing  to  be  set  for  April  24. 
Sailors  were  enlisted,  stores  put  on  board,  everything 
was  in  readiness.  At  the  last  moment,  Radisson 
asked  leave  of  absence  to  say  good-by  to  his  family. 
The  request  was  granted.  Without  losing  a  moment, 
he  sailed  for  England,  where  he  arrived  on  the  loth 
of  May  and  was  at  once  taken  in  hand  by  Sir  William 
Young  and  Sir  James  Hayes.  He  was  honored  as 
his  explorations  entitled  him  to  be.  King  Charles 
and  the  Duke  of  York  received  him.  Both  royal 
brothers  gave  him  gifts  In  token  of  appreciation.  He 
took  the  oath  of  fealty  and  cast  In  his  lot  with  the 
English  for  good.  It  was  characteristic  of  the  enthu- 
siast that  he  was,  when  Radisson  did  not  sign  a 
strictly  business  contract  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.     "  I   accepted    their    commission   with    the 


i82      PATHFINDER^    OF    THE    WEST 

greatest  pleasure  in  the  world,"  he  writes  ;  "... 
without  any  precautions  on  my  part  for  my  own 
interests  .  .  .  since  they  had  confidence  in  me,  I 
wished  to  be  generous  towards  them  ...  in  the  hope 
they  would  render  me  all  the  justice  due  from  gentle- 
men of  honor  and  probity." 

But  to  the  troubles  of  the  future  Radisson  always 
paid  small  heed.  Glad  to  be  off  once  more  to  the 
adventurous  freedom  of  the  wilds,  he  set  sail  from 
England  on  May  17,  1684,  in  the  Happy  Return^ 
accompanied  by  two  other  vessels.  No  incident 
marked  the  voyage  till  the  ships  had  passed  through 
the  straits  and  were  driven  apart  by  the  ice-drift  of  the 
bay.  About  sixty  miles  out  from  Port  Nelson,  the 
Happy  Return  was  held  back  by  ice.  Fearing  trouble 
between  young  Jean  Groseillers'  men  and  the  Eng- 
lish of  the  other  ships,  Radisson  embarked  in  a  shal- 
lop with  seven  men  in  order  to  arrive  at  Hayes 
River  before  the  other  boats  came.  Rowing  with 
might  and  main  for  forty-eight  hours,  they  came  to 
the  site  of  the  French  fort. 

The  fort  had  been  removed.  Jean  Groseillers  had 
his  own  troubles  during  Radisson's  absence.  A  few 
days  after  Radisson's  departure  in  July,  1683,  cannon 
announced  the  arrival  of  the  annual  English  ships  on 
Nelson  River,  jean  at  once  sent  out  scouts,  who 
found  a  tribe  of  Indians  on  the  way  home  from  trad- 


LAST    VOYAGE    OF    RADISSON       183 

ing  with  the  ships  that  had  fired  the  cannon.  The 
scouts  brought  the  Indians  back  to  the  French  fort. 
Young  Groseillers  admitted  the  savages  only  one  at 
a  time;  but  the  cunning  braves  pretended  to  run  back 
for  things  they  had  forgotten  in  the  French  house. 
Suspecting  nothing,  Jean  had  permitted  his  own  men 
to  leave  the  fort.  On  different  pretexts,  a  dozen 
warriors  had  surrounded  the  young  trader.  Sud- 
denly the  mask  was  thrown  off.  Springing  up, 
treacherous  as  a  tiger  cat,  the  chief  of  the  band  struck 
at  Groseillers  with  a  dagger.  Jean  parried  the  blow, 
grabbed  the  redskin  by  his  collar  of  bears'  claws 
strung  on  thongs,  threw  the  assassin  to  the  ground 
almost  strangling  him,  and  with  one  foot  on  the 
villain's  throat  and  the  sword  point  at  his  chest, 
demanded  of  the  Indians  what  they  meant.  The 
savages  would  have  fled,  but  French  soldiers  who  had 
heard  the  noise  dashed  to  Groseillers'  aid.  The 
Indians  threw  down  their  weapons  and  confessed  all : 
the  Englishmen  of  the  ship  had  promised  the  band  a 
barrel  of  powder  to  massacre  the  French.  Jean  took 
his  foot  from  the  Indian's  throat  and  kicked  him  out 
of  the  fort.  The  English  outnumbered  the  French  ; 
so  Jean  removed  his  fort  farther  from  the  bay,  among 
the  Indians,  where  the  English  could  not  follow.  To 
keep  the  warriors  about  him,  he  offered  to  house  and 
feed   them   for  the  winter.      This  protected  him  from 


i84     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

the  attacks  of  the  English.  In  the  spring  Indians 
came  to  the  French  with  pelts.  Jean  was  short  of 
firearms;  so  he  bribed  the  Indians  to  trade  their 
peltries  to  the  English  for  guns,  and  to  retrade  the 
guns  to  him  for  other  goods.  It  was  a  stroke  worthy 
of  Radisson  himself,  and  saved  the  little  French  fort. 
The  English  must  have  suspected  the  young  trader's 
straits,  for  they  again  paid  warriors  to  attack  the 
French  ;  but  Jean  had  forestalled  assault  by  forming 
an  alliance  with  the  Assiniboines,  who  came  down 
Hayes  River  from  Lake  Winnipeg  four  hundred 
strong,  and  encamped  a  body-guard  around  the  fort. 
Affairs  were  at  this  stage  when  Radisson  arrived 
with  news  that  he  had  transferred  his  services  to  the 
English. 

Young  Groseillers  was  amazed.^  Letters  to  his 
mother  show  that  he  surrendered  his  charge  with  a 
very  ill  grace.  "  Do  not  forget,"  Radisson  urged 
him,  "  the  injuries  that  France  has  inflicted  on  your 
father."  Young  Groseillers'  mother,  Marguerite 
Hayet,  was  in  want  at  Three  Rivers.^  It  was 
memory  of  her  that  now  turned  the  scales  with  the 
young  man.  He  would  turn  over  the  furs  to  Radis- 
son for  the  English  Company,  if  Radisson  would  take 
care  of  the  far-away  mother  at  Three   Rivers.     The 

^  See  Appendix. 

2  State  Papers  record  payment  of  money  to  lier  because  she  was  in  want. 


LAST    VOYAGE    OF    RADISSON        185 

bargain  was  made,  and  the  two  embraced.  The  sur- 
render of  the  French  furs  to  the  EngHsh  Company 
has  been  represented  as  Radisson's  crowning  treachery. 
Under  that  odium  the  great  discoverer's  name  has 
rested  for  nearly  three  centuries  ;  yet  the  accusation  of 
theft  is  without  a  grain  of  truth.  Radisson  and  Gro- 
seillers  were  to  obtain  half  the  proceeds  of  the  voyage 
in  1682-1683.  Neither  the  explorers  nor  Jean  Groseil- 
lers,  who  had  privately  invested  XS^*^  ^^  ^^^  venture, 
ever  received  one  sou.  The  furs  at  Port  Nelson  —  or 
Fort  Bourbon  —  belonged  to  the  Frenchmen,  to  do 
what  they  pleased  with  them.  The  act  of  the  enthusi- 
ast is  often  tainted  with  folly.  That  Radisson  turned 
over  twenty  thousand  beaver  pelts  to  the  English,  with- 
out the  slightest  assurance  that  he  would  be  given 
adequate  return,  was  surely  folly  ;  but  it  was  not  theft. 
The  transfer  of  all  possessions  to  the  English  was 
promptly  made.  Radisson  then  arranged  a  peace 
treaty  between  the  Indians  and  the  English.  That 
peace  treaty  has  endured  between  the  Indians  and  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  this  day.  A  new  fort 
was  built,  the  furs  stored  in  the  hold  of  the  vessels, 
and  the  crews  mustered  for  the  return  voyage.  Radis- 
son had  been  given  a  solemn  promise  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  that  Jean  Groseillers  and  his  comrades 
should  be  well  treated  and  reengaged  for  the  English 
at  J^ioo  a  year.      Now  he  learned   that  the  English 


i86     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

intended  to  ship  all  the  French  out  of  Hudson  Bay 
and  to  keep  them  out.  The  enthusiast  had  played  his 
game  with  more  zeal  than  discretion.  The  English 
had  what  they  wanted  —  furs  and  fort.  In  return, 
Radisson  had  what  had  misled  him  like  a  will-o'-the- 
wisp  all  his  life  —  vague  promises.  In  vain  Radisson 
protested  that  he  had  given  his  promise  to  the  French 
before  they  surrendered  the  fort.  The  English  dis- 
trusted foreigners.  The  Frenchmen  had  been  mus- 
tered on  the  ships  to  receive  last  instructions.  They 
were  told  that  they  were  to  be  taken  to  England.  No 
chance  was  given  them  to  escape.  Some  of  the 
French  had  gone  inland  with  the  Indians.  Of  Jean's 
colony,  these  alone  remained.  When  Radisson  real- 
ized the  conspiracy,  he  advised  his  fellow-countrymen 
to  make  no  resistance  ;  for  he  feared  that  some  of  the 
English  bitter  against  him  might  seize  on  the  pretext 
of  a  scuffle  to  murder  the  French.  His  advice  proved 
wise.  He  had  strong  friends  at  the  English  court, 
and  atonement  was  made  for  the  breach  of  faith  to  the 
French. 

The  ships  set  sail  on  the  4th  of  September  and 
arrived  in  England  on  the  23d  of  October.  Without 
waiting  for  the  coach,  Radisson  hired  a  horse  and 
spurred  to  London  in  order  to  give  his  version  first  of 
the  quarrel  on  the  bay.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany was  delighted  with  the  success  of  Radisson.     He 


LAST    VOYAGE    OF    RADISSON       187 

was  taken  before  the  directors,  given  a  present  of  a 
hundred  guineas,  and  thanked  for  his  services.  He 
was  once  more  presented  to  the  King  and  the  Duke 
of   York.     The    company   redeemed    its    promise    to 


:^^^i^^  ^^^Vt^^'-S 


f   ^f    lit    ,#     ^ 


■>*, 


^ 


1 


i 


Hudson  Bay  Dog  Trains  laden  with  Furs  arriving  at  Lower  Fort  Garry, 
Red   River.      (Courtesy  of  C  C  ChipTian,  Commissioner  H.  B.  Company.) 

Radisson  by  employing  the  Frenchmen  of  the  surren- 
dered fort  and  offering  to  engage  young  Groseillers 
at  ^100  a  year.^ 


1  Dr.  George  Bryce,  who  is  really  the  only  scholar  who  has  tried  to  unravel  the 
mystery  of  Radisson's  last  days,  supplies  new  facts  about  his  dealings  with  the  Company 
to  1710. 


i88      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

For  five  years  the  English  kept  faith  with  Radlsson, 
and  he  made  annual  voyages  to  the  bay ;  but  war 
broke  out  with  France.  New  France  entered  on  a 
brilliant  campaign  against  the  English  of  Hudson 
Bay.  The  company's  profits  fell.  Radisson,  the 
Frenchman,  was  distrusted.  France  had  set  a  price  on 
his  head,  and  one  Martiniere  went  to  Port  Nelson  to 
seize  him,  but  was  unable  to  cope  with  the  English. 
At  no  time  did  Radisson's  salary  with  the  company 
exceed  ^loo;  and  now,  when  war  stopped  dividends 
on  the  small  amount  of  stock  which  had  been  given 
to  him,  he  fell  into  poverty  and  debt.  In  1692  Sir 
William  Young  petitioned  the  company  in  his  favor ; 
but  a  man  with  a  price  on  his  head  for  treason  could 
plainly  not  return  to  France.^  The  French  were  in 
possession  of  the  bay.  Radisson  could  do  no  harm  to 
the  English.  Therefore  the  company  ignored  him  till 
he  sued  them  and  received  payment  in  full  for  arrears 
of  salary  and  dividends  on  stock  which  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  sell ;  but  J^^o  a  year  would  not  support  a 
man  who  paid  half  that  amount  for  rent,  and  had  a 
wife,  four  children,  and  servants  to  support.  In  1700 
Radisson  applied  for  the  position  of  warehouse  keeper 
for  the  company  at  London.      Even  this  was  denied. 

The  dauntless  pathfinder  was  growing  old ;  and  the 

1  Marquis  de  Denonville  ordered  the  arrest  of  Radisson  wherever  he  might  be 
found. 


LAST    VOYAGE    OF    RADISSON       189 

old  cannot  fight  and  lose  and  begin  again  as  Radisson 
had  done  all  his  life.  State  Papers  of  Paris  contain 
records  of  a  Radisson  with  Tonty  at  Detroit !  ^  Was 
this  his  nephew,  Fran9ois  Radisson's  son,  who  took 
the  name  of  the  explorer,  or  Radisson's  own  son,  or 
the  game  old  warrior  himself,  come  out  to  die  on  the 
frontier  as  he  had  lived  ? 

History  is  silent.  Until  the  year  17 10  Radisson 
drew  his  allowance  of  ^50  a  year  from  the  English 
Company,  then  the  payments  stopped.  Did  the 
dauntless  life  stop  too  ?  Oblivion  hides  all  record  of 
his  death,  as  it  obscured  the  brilliant  achievements  of 
his  life. 

There  is  no  need  to  point  out  Radisson's  faults. 
They  are  written  on  his  life  without  extenuation  or 
excuse,  so  that  all  may  read.  There  is  less  need  to 
eulogize  his  virtues.  They  declare  themselves  in 
every  act  of  his  life.  This,  only,  should  be  remem- 
bered. Like  all  enthusiasts,  Radisson  could  not  have 
been  a  hero,  if  he  had  not  been  a  bit  of  a  fool.  If  he 
had  not  had  his  faults,  if  he  had  not  been  as  impulsive, 
as  daring,  as  reckless,  as  inconstant,  as  improvident  of 
the  morrow,  as  a  savage  or  a  child,  he  would  not  have 
accomplished  the  exploration  of  half  a  continent. 
Men  who  weigh  consequences  are  not  of  the  stuff  to 

1  Appendix  j   see  State  Papers. 


I90     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

win  empires.  Had  Radisson  haggled  as  to  the  means, 
he  would  have  missed  or  muddled  the  end.  He  went 
ahead  ;  and  when  the  way  did  not  open,  he  went  round, 
or  crawled  over,  or  carved  his  way  through. 

There  was  an  old  saying  among  retired  hunters  of 
Three  Rivers  that  "  one  learned  more  in  the  woods  than 
was  ever  found  in  V  petee  cat-ee-cheesm."  Radisson's 
training  was  of  the  woods,  rather  than  the  cure's  cate- 
chism ;  yet  who  that  has  been  trained  to  the  strictest 
code  may  boast  of  as  dauntless  faults  and  noble  vir- 
tues ?  He  was  not  faithful  to  any  country,  but  he  was 
faithful  to  his  wife  and  children ;  and  he  was  "  faithful 
to  his  highest  hope,"  —  that  of  becoming  a  discoverer, 
—  which  is  more  than  common  mortals  are  to  their 
meanest  aspirations.  When  statesmen  played  him  a 
double  game,  he  paid  them  back  in  their  own  coin 
with  compound  interest.  Perhaps  that  is  why  they 
hated  him  so  heartily  and  blackened  his  memory. 
But  amid  all  the  mad  license  of  savage  life,  Radisson 
remained  untainted.  Other  explorers  and  statesmen, 
too,  have  left  a  trail  of  blood  to  perpetuate  their  mem- 
ory ;  Radisson  never  once  spilled  human  blood  need- 
lessly, and  was  beloved  by  the  savages. 

Memorial  tablets  commemorate  other  discoverers. 
Radisson  needs  none.  The  Great  Northwest  is  his 
monument  for  all  time. 


PART    II 

THE  SEARCH  FOR  THE  WESTERN  SEA:  BEING  AN 
ACCOUNT  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  ROCKY 
MOUNTAINS,  THE  MISSOURI  UPLANDS,  AND  THE 
VALLEY    OF   THE   SASKATCHEWAN 


CHAPTER   VIII 

1730-1750 

THE    SEARCH    FOR    THE    WESTERN    SEA' 

M.  de  la  Verendrye  continues  the  Exploration  of  the  Great  North- 
west by  establishing  a  Chain  of  Fur  Posts  across  the  Continent  — 
Privations  of  the  Explorers  and  the  Massacre  of  Twenty  Followers 
—  His  Sons  visit  the  Mandans  and  discover  the  Rockies  —  The 
Valley  of  the  Saskatchewan  is  next  explored,  but  Jealousy  thwarts 
the  Explorer,  and  he  dies  in  Poverty 


1731-1736 

A  CURIOUS  paradox  is  that  the  men  who  have  done 
the  most  for  North  America  did  not  intend  to  do  so. 
They  set  out  on  the  far  quest  of  a  crack-brained  ideal- 
ist's dream.  They  pulled  up  at  a  foreshortened 
purpose;  but  the  unaccomplished  aim  did  more  for 
humanity  than  the  idealist's  dream. 

Columbus  set  out  to  find  Asia.  He  discovered 
America.     Jacques  Cartier  sought  a  mythical  passage 

1  The  authorities  for  La  Verendrye's  life  are,  of  course,  his  own  reports  as  found  in 
the  State  Papers  of  the  Canadian  Archives,  Pierre  Margry's  compilation  of  these 
reports,  and  the  Rev.   Father  Jones'  collection  of  the  Aulneau  Letters. 

o  193 


194     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

to  the  Orient.  He  found  a  northern  empire.  La 
Salle  thought  to  reach  China.  He  succeeded  only  in 
exploring  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  but  the  new 
continent  so  explored  has  done  more  for  humanity 
than  Asia  from  time  immemorial.  Of  all  crack-brained 
dreams  that  led  to  far-reaching  results,  none  was 
wilder  than  the  search  for  the  Western  Sea.  Mar- 
quette, Jolliet,  and  La  Salle  had  followed  the  trail  that 
Radisson  had  blazed  and  explored  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi ;  but  like  a  will-o'-the-wisp  beckoning  ever 
westward  was  that  undiscovered  myth,  the  Western 
Sea,  thought  to  lie  like  a  narrow  strait  between 
America  and  Japan. 

The  search  began  in  earnest  one  sweltering  afternoon 
on  June  8,  173 1,  at  the  little  stockaded  fort  on  the  banks 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  Montreal  stands  to-day. 
Fifty  grizzled  adventurers  —  wood  runners,  voyageurs^ 
Indian  interpreters  —  bareheaded,  except  for  the 
colored  handkerchief  binding  back  the  lank  hair, 
dressed  in  fringed  buckskin,  and  chattering  with  the 
exuberant  nonchalance  of  boys  out  of  school,  had 
finished  gumming  the  splits  of  their  ninety-foot 
birch  canoes,  and  now  stood  in  line  awaiting  the  com- 
ing of  their  captain,  Sieur  Pierre  Gaultier  de  Varennes 
de  la  Verendrye.  The  h'rcnch  soldier  with  his  three 
sons,  aged  respectively  eighteen,  seventeen,  and  sixteen, 
now  essayed  to  discover  the  fabled  Western  Sea,  whose 


Indians  and  Hunters  spurring  to  tlie  Fight. 


SEARCH    FOR  THE   WESTERN   SEA     195 

narrow  waters  were  supposed  to  be  between  the  val- 
ley of  the  "  Great  Forked  River  "  and  the  Empire  of 
China. 

Certainly,  if  it  were  worth  while  for  Peter  the 
Great  of  Russia  to  send  Vitus  Bering  coasting  the 
bleak  headlands  of  ice-blocked,  misty  shores  to  find 
the  Western  Sea,  it  would — as  one  of  the  French 
governors  reported  —  "  be  nobler  than  open  war  "  for 
the  little  colony  of  New  France  to  discover  this  "sea  of 
the  setting  sun."  The  quest  was  invested  with  all  the 
rainbow  tints  of  "  la  gloire " ;  but  the  rainbow  hopes 
were  founded  on  the  practical  basis  of  profits.  Lead- 
ing merchants  of  Montreal  had  advanced  goods  for 
trade  with  the  Indians  on  the  way  to  the  Western  Sea. 
Their  expectations  of  profits  were  probably  the  same 
as  the  man's  who  buys  a  mining  share  for  ten  cents 
and  looks  for  dividends  of  several  thousand  per  cent. 
And  the  fur  trade  at  that  time  was  capable  of  yielding 
such  profits.  Traders  had  gone  West  with  less  than 
$2000  worth  of  goods  in  modern  money,  and  re- 
turned three  years  later  with  a  sheer  profit  of  a  quarter 
of  a  million.  Hope  of  such  returns  added  zest  to  De 
la  Verendrye's  venture  for  the  discovery  of  the  West- 
ern Sea. 

Goods  done  up  in  packets  of  a  hundred  pounds  lay 
at  the  feet  of  the  voyageurs  awaiting  De  la  Verendrye's 
command.       A  dozen    soldiers    in    the    plumed    hats. 


196      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

slashed  buskins,  the  brightly  colored  doublets  of  the 
period,  joined  the  motley  company.  Priests  came  out 
to  bless  the  departing  voyageurs.  Chapel  bells  rang 
out  their  God-speed.  To  the  booming  of  cannon,  and 
at  a  word  from  De  la  Verendrye,  the  gates  opened. 
Falling  in  line  with  measured  tread,  the  soldiers  marched 
out  from  Mount  Royal.  Behind,  in  the  ambling  gait 
of  the  moccasined  woodsman,  came  the  voyageurs  and 
coureiirs  and  interpreters,  pack-straps  across  their  fore- 
heads, packets  on  the  bent  backs,  the  long  birch  canoes 
hoisted  to  the  shoulders  of  four  men,  two  abreast  at 
each  end,  heads  hidden  in  the  inverted  keel. 

The  path  led  between  the  white  fret  of  Lachine 
Rapids  and  the  dense  forests  that  shrouded  the  base 
of  Mount  Royal.  Checkerboard  squares  of  farm 
patches  had  been  cleared  in  the  woods.  La  Salle's 
old  thatch-roofed  seigniory  lay  not  far  back  from  the 
water.  St.  Anne's  was  the  launching  place  for  fleets 
of  canoes  that  were  to  ascend  the  Ottawa.  Here,  a 
last  look  was  taken  of  splits  and  seams  in  the  birch 
keels.  With  invocations  of  St.  Anne  in  one  breath, 
and  invocations  of  a  personage  not  mentioned  in  the 
cure's  "  petee  cat-ee-cheesm  "  in  the  next  breath,  and 
imprecations  that  their  "souls  might  be  smashed  on 
the  end  of  a  picket  fence,"  —  the  voyageurs  common 
oath  even  to  this  day,  —  the  boatmen  stored  goods 
fore,  aft,  and  athwart  till   each   long  canoe  sank   to  the 


Fight  at  the  Foot-hills  of  the  Rockies  between  Crows  and  Snakes. 


SEARCH    FOR  THE    WESTERN   SEA     197 

gunwale  as  it  was  gently  pushed  out  on  the  water.  A 
last  sign  of  the  cross,  and  the  lithe  figures  leap  light 
as  a  mountain  cat  to  their  place  in  the  canoes.  There 
are  four  benches  of  paddlers,  two  abreast,  with  bowman 
and  steersman,  to  each  canoe.  One  can  guess  that  the 
explorer  and  his  sons  and  his  nephew,  Sieur  de  la  Jem- 
meraie,  who  was  to  be  second  in  command,  all  unhatted 
as  they  heard  the  long  last  farewell  of  the  bells. 
Every  eye  is  fastened  on  the  chief  bowman's  steel-shod 
pole,  held  high  —  there  is  silence  but  for  the  bells  — 
the  bowman's  pole  is  lowered  —  as  with  one  stroke  out 
sweep  the  paddles  in  a  poetry  of  motion.  The  chimes 
die  away  over  the  water,  the  chapel  spire  gleams  —  it, 
too,  is  gone.  Some  one  strikes  up  a  plaintive  ditty, — 
the  voyageurs  song  of  the  lost  lady  and  the  faded 
roses,  or  the  dying  farewell  of  Cadieux,  the  hunter,  to 
his  comrades,  —  and  the  adventurers  are  launched  for 
the  Western  Sea. 

II 

1731-1736 

Every  mile  westward  was  consecrated  by  heroism. 
There  was  the  place  where  Cadieux,  the  white  hunter, 
went  ashore  single-handed  to  hold  the  Iroquois  at  bay, 
while  his  comrades  escaped  by  running  the  rapids ; 
but  Cadieux  was  assailed  by  a  subtler  foe  than  the 
Iroquois,  la  folie  des  bois^  —  the  folly  of  the  woods, — 


198      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

that  sends  the  hunter  wandering  in  endless  circles  till 
he  dies  from  hunger;  and  when  his  companions  re- 
turned, Cadieux  lay  in  eternal  sleep  with  a  death  chant 
scribbled  on  bark  across  his  breast.  There  were  the 
Rapids  of  the  Long  Sault  where  Dollard  and  seven- 
teen Frenchmen  fought  seven  hundred  Iroquois  till 
every  white  man  fell.  Not  one  of  all  De  la  Verendrye's 
fifty  followers  but  knew  that  perils  as  great  awaited 
him. 

Streaked  foam  told  the  voyageurs  where  they  were 
approaching  rapids.  Alert  as  a  hawk,  the  bowman 
stroked  for  the  shore  ;  and  his  stroke  was  answered  by 
all  paddles.  If  the  water  were  high  enough  to  carry 
the  canoes  above  rocks,  and  the  rapids  were  not  too 
violent,  several  of  the  boatmen  leaped  out  to  knees  in 
water,  and  "  tracked  "  the  canoes  up  stream  ;  but  this 
was  unusual  with  loaded  craft.  The  bowman  steadied 
the  beached  keel.  Each  man  landed  with  pack  on  his 
back,  lighted  his  pipe,  and  trotted  away  over  portages 
so  dank  and  slippery  that  only  a  moccasined  foot  could 
gain  hold.  On  long  portages^  camp-fires  were  kindled 
and  the  kettles  slung  on  the  crotched  sticks  for  the 
evening  meal.  At  night,  the  voyageurs  slept  under 
the  overturned  canoes,  or  lay  on  the  sand  with  bare 
faces  to  the  sky.  Morning  mist  had  not  risen  till  all 
the  boats  were  once  more  breasting  the  flood  of  the 
Ottawa.     For  a  month  the  canoe  prows  met  the  cur- 


SEARCH    FOR  THE  WESTERN    SEA     i 


99 


rent  when  a  portage  lifted  the  fleet  out  of  the   Ottawa 
into  a  shallow  stream  flowing  toward   Lake   Nipissing, 


"  Each  man  landed  with  pack  on  his  back,  and  trotted  away  over  portages." 


and  from  Lake  Nipissing  to  Lake  Huron.  The 
change  was  a  welcome  relief.  The  canoes  now  rode 
with  the  current ;  and  when  a  wind  sprang  up  astern, 


200     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


blanket  sails  were  hoisted  that  let  the  boatmen  lie  back, 
paddles  athwart.  Going  with  the  stream,  the  voya- 
geurs     would    "  run  "  —  "  sauter     les     rapides  "  —  the 

safest  of  the  cata- 
racts. Bowman, 
not  steersman,  was 
the  pilot  of  such 
"runs."  A  faint, 
far  swish  as  of 
night  wind,  little 
forward  leaps  and 
swirls  of  the  cur- 
rent, the  blur  of 
trees  on  either 
bank,  were  signs  to 
the  bowman.  He 
rose  in  his  place. 
A  thrust  of  the 
steel-shod  pole  at 
a  rock  in  mid- 
stream —  the  rock 
raced  past ;  a  throb 
of  the  keel  to  the 
live  waters  below 
—  the  bowman  crouches  back,  lightening  the  prow 
just  as  a  rider  "  lifts  "  his  horse  to  the  leap  ;  a  sudden 
splash  —  the  thing  has  happened  —  the  canoe  has  run 
the  rapids  or  shot  the  falls. 


A  Cree  Indian  of  the  Minnesota  Borderlands. 


SEARCH    FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     201 

Pause  was  made  at  Lake  Huron  for  favorable 
weather ;  and  a  rear  wind  would  carry  the  canoes  at  a 
bouncing  pace  clear  across  to  Michilimackinac,  at  the 
mouth  of  Lake  Michigan.  This  was  the  chief  fur  post 
of  the  lakes  at  that  time.  All  the  boats  bound  east  or 
west,  Sioux  and  Cree  and  Iroquois  and  Fox,  traders' 
and  priests'  and  outlaws' — stopped  at  Michilimackinac. 
Vice  and  brandy  and  religion  were  the  characteristics 
of  the  fort. 

This  was  familiar  ground  to  De  la  Verendrye.  It 
was  at  the  lonely  fur  post  of  Nepigon,  north  of 
Michilimackinac,  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness  forest, 
that  he  had  eaten  his  heart  out  with  baffled  ambition 
from  1728  to  1730,  when  he  descended  to  Montreal  to 
lay  before  M.  de  Beauharnois,  the  governor,  plans  for 
the  discovery  of  the  Western  Sea.  Born  at  Three 
Rivers  in  1686,  where  the  passion  for  discovery  and 
Radisson's  fame  were  in  the  very  air  and  traders  from 
the  wilderness  of  the  Upper  Country  wintered,  young 
Pierre  Gaultier  de  Varennes  de  la  Verendrye,  at  the 
ambitious  age  of  fourteen,  determined  that  he  would 
become  a  discoverer.^  At  eighteen  he  was  fighting 
in  New  England,  at  nineteen  in  Newfoundland,  at 
twenty-three  in  Europe  at  the  battle  of  Malplaquet, 
where  he  was  carried  off  the  field  with  nine  wounds. 

1  The  Pa'\'s  d' en  Haul  or  "  Up-Country  "  was  the  vague  name  given  by  the  fur 
traders  to  the  region  between  the  Missouri  and  the  North  Pole. 


202     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Eager  for  more  distinguished  service,  he  returned  to 
Canada  in  his  twenty-seventh  year,  only  to  find  himself 
relegated  to  an  obscure  trading  post  in  far  Northern 
wilds.  Then  the  boyhood  ambitions  reawakened.  All 
France  and  Canada,  too,  were  ringing  with  projects  for 
the  discovery  of  the  Western  Sea.  Russia  was  acting. 
France  knew  it.  The  great  priest  Charlevoix  had 
been  sent  to  Canada  to  investigate  plans  for  the  ven- 
ture, and  had  recommended  an  advance  westward 
through  the  country  of  the  Sioux;  but  the  Sioux -^ 
swarmed  round  the  little  fort  at  Lake  Pepin  on  the 
Mississippi  like  angry  wasps.  That  way,  exploration 
was  plainly  barred.  Nothing  came  of  the  attempt 
except  a  brisk  fur  trade  and  a  brisker  warfare  on  the 
part  of  the  Sioux.  At  the  lonely  post  of  Nepigon, 
vague  Indian  tales  came  to  De  la  Verendrye  of  "  a 
great  river  flowing  west "  and  "  a  vast,  flat  country 
devoid  of  timber"  with  "large  herds  of  cattle,"  Ocha- 
gach,  an  old  Indian,  drew  maps  on  birch  bark  showing 
rivers  that  emptied  into  the  Western  Sea.  De  la 
Verendrye's  smouldering  ambitions  kindled.  He 
hurried  to  Michilimackinac.  There  the  traders  and 
Indians  told  the  same  story.  Glory  seemed  suddenly 
within  De  la  Verendrye's  grasp.  Carried  away  with 
the  passion   for  discovery  that  ruled  his  age,  he  took 

^Throughout  this  volume  tlie  word   "Sioux"  is  used  as  applying  to  the   entire 
confederacy,  and   not   to  the  Minnesota  Sioux  only. 


SEARCH    FOR  THE   WESTERN   SEA     203 

passage  in  the  canoes  bound  for  Quebec.  The  Mar- 
quis Charles  de  Beauharnois  had  become  governor. 
His  brother  Claude  had  taken  part  in  the  exploration 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  governor  favored  the  project 
of  the  Western  Sea.  Perhaps  Russia's  activity  gave 
edge  to  the  governor's  zest ;  but  he  promised  De  la 
Verendrye  the  court's  patronage  and  prestige.  This 
was  not  money.  France  would  not  advance  the  en- 
thusiast one  sou,  but  granted  him  a  monopoly  of  the 
fur  trade  in  the  countries  which  he  might  discover. 
The  winter  of  173 1— 1732  was  spent  by  De  la  Veren- 
drye as  the  guest  of  the  governor  at  Chateau  St.  Louis, 
arranging  with  merchants  to  furnish  goods  for  trade ; 
and  on  May  19  the  agreement  was  signed.  By  a 
lucky  coincidence,  the  same  winter  that  M.  de  la 
Verendrye  had  come  down  to  Quebec,  there  had 
arrived  from  the  Mississippi  fort,  his  nephew,  Chris- 
topher Dufrost,  Sieur  de  la  Jemmeraie,  who  had  com- 
manded the  Sioux  post  and  been  prisoner  among  the 
Indians.  So  M.  de  la  Verendrye  chose  Jemmeraie 
for  lieutenant. 

And  now  the  explorer  was  back  at  Michilimackinac, 
on  the  way  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  daring  ambi- 
tion of  his  life.  The  trip  from  Montreal  had  fatigued 
the  voyageurs.  Brandy  flowed  at  the  lake  post  freely 
as  at  a  modern  mining  camp.  The  explorer  kept 
military  discipline  over   his  men.     They  received  no 


204     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

pay  which  could  be  squandered  away  on  Hquor.  Dis- 
content grew  rife.  Taking  Father  Messaiger,  the 
Jesuit,  as  chaplain,  M.  de  la  Verendrye  ordered  his 
grumbling  voyageurs  to  their  canoes,  and,  passing 
through  the  Straits  of  the  Sault,  headed  his  fleet  once 
more  for  the  Western  Sea.  Other  explorers  had  pre- 
ceded him  on  this  part  of  the  route.  The  Jesuits 
had  coasted  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior.  So  had 
Radisson.  In  1688  De  Noyon  of  Three  Rivers  had 
gone  as  far  west  as  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  towards 
what  is  now  Minnesota  and  Manitoba;  and  in  1717 
De  Lanoue  had  built  a  fur  post  at  Kaministiquia,  near 
what  is  now  Fort  William  on  Lake  Superior.  The 
shore  was  always  perilous  to  the  boatman  of  frail  craft. 
The  harbors  were  fathoms  deep,  and  the  waves  thrashed 
by  a  cross  wind  often  proved  as  dangerous  as  the  high 
sea.  It  took  M.  de  la  Verendrye's  canoemen  a  month 
to  coast  from  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw  to  Kaministiquia, 
which  they  reached  on  the  26th  of  August,  seventy- 
eight  days  after  they  had  left  Montreal.  The  same 
distance  is  now  traversed  in  two  days. 

Prospects  were  not  encouraging.  The  crews  were 
sulky.  Kaministiquia  was  the  outermost  post  in  the 
West.  Within  a  month,  the  early  Northern  winter 
would  set  in.  One  hunter  can  scramble  for  his  win- 
ter's food  where  fifty  will  certainly  starve  ;  and  the 
Indians   could  not  be  expected   back  from   the  chase 


SEARCH  FOR  THE  WESTERN  SEA 


205 


with  supplies  of  furs  and  food  till  spring.  The  canoe- 
men  had  received  no  pay.  Free  as  woodland  denizens, 
they  chafed  under  military  command.  Boats  were 
always  setting  out  at  this  season  for  the  homeland 
hamlets  of  the  St.  Lawrence ;  and  perhaps  other 
hunters  told  De  la  Verendrye's  men  that  this  West- 
ern Sea  was  a  will-o'-the-wisp  that  would  lead  for 
leagues  and  leagues  over  strange  lands,  through  hostile 
tribes,  to  a  lonely  death  in  the  wilderness.  When  the 
explorer  ordered  his  men  once  more  in  line  to  launch 
for  the  Western  Sea,  there  was  outright  mutiny. 
Soldiers  and  boatmen  refused  to  go  on.  The  Jesuit 
Messaiger  threatened  and  expostulated  with  the  men. 
Jemmeraie,  who  had  been  among  the  Sioux,  inter- 
ceded with  the  voyageurs.  A  compromise  was 
effected.  Half  the  boatmen  would  go  ahead  with 
Jemmeraie  if  M.  de  la  Verendrye  would  remain  with 
the  other  half  at  Lake  Superior  as  a  rear  guard  for 
retreat  and  the  supply  of  provisions.  So  the  explorer 
suffered  his  first  check  in  the  advance  to  the  Western 
Sea. 

Ill 

1732-1736 

Equipping  four  canoes.  Lieutenant  de  la  Jemmeraie 
and  young  Jean  Ba'tiste  de  la  Verendrye  set  out  with 
thirty    men     from     Kaministiquia,   portaged    through 


2o6     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

dense  forests  over  moss  and  dank  rock  past  the  high 
cataract  of  the  falls,  and  launched  westward  to  prepare 
a  fort  for  the  reception  of  their  leader  in  spring. 
Before  winter  had  closed  navigation,  Fort  St.  Pierre 
—  named  in  honor  of  the  explorer  —  had  been  erected 
on  the  left  bank  or  Minnesota  side  of  Rainy  Lake, 
and  the  two  young  men  not  only  succeeded  in  holding 
their  mutinous  followers,  but  drove  a  thriving  trade  in 
furs  with  the  Crees.  Perhaps  the  furs  were  obtained 
at  too  great  cost,  for  ammunition  and  firearms  were 
the  price  paid,  but  the  same  mistake  has  been  made 
at  a  later  day  for  a  lesser  object  than  the  discovery  of 
the  Western  Sea.  The  spring  of  1732  saw  the  young 
men  back  at  Lake  Superior,  going  post-haste  to 
Michilimackinac  to  exchange  furs  for  the  goods  from 
Montreal. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  exactly  a  year  from  the  day 
that  he  had  left  Montreal,  M.  de  la  Verendrye  pushed 
forward  with  all  his  people  for  Fort  St.  Pierre.  Five 
weeks  later  he  was  welcomed  inside  the  stockades. 
Uniformed  soldiers  were  a  wonder  to  the  awe-struck 
Crees,  who  hung  round  the  gateway  with  hands  over 
their  hushed  lips.  Gifts  of  ammunition  won  the 
loyalty  of  the  chiefs.  Not  to  be  lacking  in  generosity, 
the  Indians  collected  fifty  of  their  gaudiest  canoes  and 
offered  to  escort  the  explorer  west  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods.      De   la   Verendrye    could    not   miss   such    an 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA 


207 


offer.  Though  his  voyageurs  were  fatigued,  he  set  out 
at  once.  He  had  reached  Fort  St.  Pierre  on  July  14. 
In  August  his  entire  fleet  ghded  over  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods.  The  threescore  canoes  manned  by  the  Cree 
boatmen  threaded  the  shadowy  defiles  and  labyrinthine 
channels  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  —  or  Lake  of  the 
Isles  —  coasting  island  after  island  along  the  south  or 


A  Group  of  Cree  Indians. 


Minnesota  shore  westward  to  the  opening  of  the  river 
at  the  northwest  angle.  This  was  the  border  of  the 
Sioux  territory.  Before  the  boatmen  opened  the 
channel  of  an  unknown  river.  Around  them  were 
sheltered  harbors,  good  hunting,  and  good  fishing. 
The  Crees  favored  this  region  for  winter  camping 
ground    because    they  could    hide  their  families  from 


2o8     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

the  Sioux  on  the  sheltered  islands  of  the  wooded  lake. 
Night  frosts  had  painted  the  forests  red.  The  flacker 
of  wild-fowl  overhead,  the  skim  of  ice  forming  on  the 
lake,  the  poignant  sting  of  the  north  wind  —  all  fore- 
warned winter's  approach.  Jean  de  la  Verendrye  had 
not  come  up  with  the  supplies  from  Michilimackinac. 
The  explorer  did  not  tempt  mutiny  by  going  farther. 
He  ordered  a  halt  and  began  building  a  fort  that  was 
to  be  the  centre  of  operations  between  Montreal  and 
the  unfound  Western  Sea.  The  fort  was  named  St. 
Charles  in  honor  of  Beauharnois.  It  was  defended  by 
four  rows  of  thick  palisades  fifteen  feet  high.  In  the 
middle  of  the  enclosure  stood  the  living  quarters,  log 
cabins  with  thatched  roofs. 

By  October  the  Indians  had  scattered  to  their 
hunting-grounds  like  leaves  to  the  wind.  The  ice 
thickened.  By  November  the  islands  were  ice-locked 
and  snow  had  drifted  waist-high  through  the  forests. 
The  voyageurs  could  still  fish  through  ice  holes  for 
food  ;  but  where  was  young  Jean  who  was  to  bring  up 
provisions  from  Michilimackinac  ?  The  commander 
did  not  voice  his  fears  ;  and  his  men  were  too  deep  in 
the  wilds  for  desertion.  One  afternoon,  a  shout 
sounded  from  the  silent  woods,  and  out  from  the 
white-edged  evergreens  stepped  a  figure  on  snow- 
shoes  —  Jean  de  la  Verendrye,  leading  his  boatmen, 
with  the  provisions  packed  on  their  backs,  from  a  point 


SEARCH    FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     209 

fifty  miles  away  where  the  ice  had  caught  the  canoes. 
If  the  suppHes  had  not  come,  the  explorer  could 
neither  have  advanced  nor  retreated  in  spring.  It 
was  a  risk  that  De  la  Verendrye  did  not  intend  to 
have  repeated.  Suspecting  that  his  merchant  part- 
ners were  dissatisfied,  he  sent  Jemmeraie  down  to 
Montreal  in  1733  to  report  and  urge  the  necessity  for 
prompt  forwarding  of  all  supplies.  With  Jemmeraie 
went  the  Jesuit  Messaiger ;  but  their  combined  expla- 
nations failed  to  satisfy  the  merchants  of  Montreal. 
De  la  Verendrye  had  now  been  away  three  years. 
True,  he  had  constructed  two  fur  posts  and  sent  East 
two  cargoes  of  furs.  His  partners  were  looking  for 
enormous  wealth.  Disappointed  and  caring  nothing 
for  the  Western  Sea ;  perhaps,  too,  secretly  accusing  De 
la  Verendrye  of  making  profits  privately,  as  many  a 
gentleman  of  fortune  did,  —  the  merchants  decided  to 
advance  provisions  only  in  proportion  to  earnings. 
What  would  become  of  the  fifty  men  in  the  Northern 
wilderness  the  partners  neither  asked  nor  cared. 

Young  Jean  had  meanwhile  pushed  on  and  built 
Fort  Maurepas  on  Lake  Winnipeg ;  but  his  father 
dared  not  leave  Fort  St.  Charles  without  supplies. 
De  la  Verendrye's  position  was  now  desperate.  He  was 
hopelessly  in  debt  to  his  men  for  wages.  That  did 
not  help  discipline.  His  partners  were  not  only  with- 
holding supplies,  but  charging  up  a  high  rate  of  in- 


2IO     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

terest  on  the  first  equipment.  To  turn  back  meant 
ruin.  To  go  forward  he  was  powerless.  Leaving 
Jemmeraie  in  command,  and  permitting  his  eager  son 
to  go  ahead  with  a  few  picked  men  to  Fort  Maurepas 
on  Lake  Winnipeg,  De  la  Verendrye  took  a  small  canoe 
and  descended  with  all  swiftness  to  Quebec.  The  win- 
ter  of  1634— 1635  ^^^  spent  with  the  governor;  and 
the  partners  were  convinced  that  they  must  either  go 
on  with  the  venture  or  lose  all.  They  consented  to 
continue  supplying  goods,  but  also  charging  all  outlay 
against  the  explorer. 

Father  Aulneau  went  back  with  De  la  Verendrye  as 
chaplain.  The  trip  was  made  at  terrible  speed,  in  the 
hottest  season,  through  stifling  forest  fires.  Behind, 
at  slower  pace,  came  the  provisions.  De  la  Verendrye 
reached  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  in  September. 
Fearing  the  delay  of  the  goods  for  trade,  and  dread- 
ing the  danger  of  famine  with  so  many  men  in  one 
place,  De  la  Verendrye  despatched  Jemmeraie  to  winter 
with  part  of  the  forces  at  Lake  Winnipeg,  where  Jean 
and  Pierre,  the  second  son,  had  built  Fort  Maurepas. 
The  worst  fears  were  realized.  Ice  had  blocked  the 
Northern  rivers  by  the  time  the  supplies  had  come  to 
Lake  Superior.  Fishing  failed.  The  hunt  was  poor. 
During  the  winter  of  1736  food  became  scantier  at  the 
little  forts  of  St.  Pierre,  St.  Charles,  and  Maurepas. 
Rations  were  reduced   from  three   times  to  once  and 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     211 

twice  a  day.  By  spring  De  la  Verendrye  was  put  to 
all  the  extremities  of  famine-stricken  traders,  his  men 
subsisting  on  parchment,  moccasin  leather,  roots,  and 
their   hunting  dogs. 

He  was  compelled  to  wait  at  St.  Charles  for  the 
delayed  supplies.  While  he  waited  came  blow  upon 
blow :  Jean  and  Pierre  arrived  from  Fort  Maurepas 
with  news  that  Jemmeraie  had  died  three  weeks  before 
on  his  way  down  to  aid  De  la  Verendrye.  Wrapped  in 
a  hunter's  robe,  his  body  was  buried  in  the  sand-bank 
of  a  little  Northern  stream.  La  Fourche  des  Roseaux. 
Over  the  lonely  grave  the  two  brothers  had  erected  a 
cross.  Father  and  sons  took  stock  of  supplies.  They 
had  not  enough  powder  to  last  another  month,  and 
already  the  Indians  were  coming  in  with  furs  and  food 
to  be  traded  for  ammunition.  If  the  Crees  had 
known  the  weakness  of  the  white  men,  short  work 
might  have  been  made  of  Fort  St.  Charles.  It  never 
entered  the  minds  of  De  la  Verendrye  and  his  sons  to 
give  up.  They  decided  to  rush  three  canoes  of  twenty 
voyageurs  to  Michilimackinac  for  food  and  powder. 
Father  Aulneau,  the  young  priest,  accompanied  the 
boatmen  to  attend  a  religious  retreat  at  Michili- 
mackinac, It  had  been  a  hard  year  for  the  youth- 
ful missionary.  The  ship  that  brought  him  from 
France  had  been  plague-stricken.  The  trip  to  Fort 
St.    Charles     had    been    arduous    and    swift,    through 


212      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

stifling  heat ;  and  the  year  passed  in  the  North  was 
one   of  famine. 

Accompanied  by  the  priest  and  led  by  Jean  de  la 
Verendrye,  now  in  his  twenty-third  year,  the  voya- 
geurs  embarked  hurriedly  on  the  8th  of  June,  1736, 
five  years  to  a  day  from  the  time  that  they  left  Mont- 
real —  and  a  fateful  day  it  was  —  in  the  search  for  the 
Western  Sea.  The  Crees  had  always  been  friendly ; 
and  when  the  boatmen  landed  on  a  sheltered  island 
twenty  miles  from  Fort  St.  Charles  to  camp  for  the 
night,  no  sentry  was  stationed.  The  lake  lay  calm  as 
glass  in  the  hot  June  night,  the  camp-fire  casting  long 
lines  across  the  water  that  could  be  seen  for  miles. 
An  early  start  was  to  be  made  in  the  morning  and  a 
furious  pace  to  be  kept  all  the  way  to  Lake  Superior, 
and  the  voyageurs  were  presently  sound  asleep  on  the 
sand.  The  keenest  ears  could  scarcely  have  distin- 
guished the  soft  lapping  of  muffled  paddles  ;  and  no 
one  heard  the  moccasined  tread  of  ambushed  Indians 
reconnoitring.  Seventeen  Sioux  stepped  from  their 
canoes,  stole  from  cover  to  cover,  and  looked  out  on 
the  unsuspecting  sleepers.  Then  the  Indians  as  noise- 
lessly slipped  back  to  their  canoes  to  carry  word  of  the 
discovery  to  a  band  of  marauders. 

Something  had  occurred  at  Fort  St.  Charles  without 
M.  de  la  Verendrye's  knowledge.  Hilarious  with 
their  new  possessions  of  firearms,  and  perhaps,  also. 


'The  soldiers  marched  out  from  Mount  Royal." 


SEARCH    FOR   THE  WESTERN   SEA     213 

mad  with  the  brandy  of  which  Father  Aulneau  had 
complained,  a  few  mischievous  Crees  had  fired  from  the 
fort  on  wandering  Sioux  of  the  prairie. 

"Who  —  fire  —  on  —  us?"  demanded  the  out- 
raged Sioux. 

"  The  French,"  laughed  the  Crees. 

The  Sioux  at  once  went  back  to  a  band  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  warriors.  "  Tigers  of  the  plains  "  the 
Sioux  were  called,  and  now  the  tigers'  blood  was  up. 
They  set  out  to  slay  the  first  white  man  seen.  By 
chance,  he  was  one  Bourassa,  coasting  by  himself. 
Taking  him  captive,  they  had  tied  him  to  burn  him, 
when  a  slave  squaw  rushed  out,  crying  :  "  What  would 
you  do?  This  Frenchman  is  a  friend  of  the  Sioux! 
He  saved  my  life  !  If  you  desire  to  be  avenged,  go 
farther  on !  You  will  find  a  camp  of  Frenchmen, 
among  whom  is  the  son  of  the  white  chief!" 

The  voyageur  was  at  once  unbound,  and  scouts 
scattered  to  find  the  white  men.  Night  had  passed 
before  the  scouts  had  carried  news  of  Jean  de  la  Veren- 
drye's  men  to  the  marauding  warriors.  The  ghostly 
gray  of  dawn  saw  the  voyageurs  paddling  swiftly 
through  the  morning  mist  from  island  to  island  of 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  Cleaving  the  mist  behind, 
following  solely  by  the  double  foam  wreaths  rippling 
from  the  canoe  prows,  came  the  silent  boats  of  the 
Sioux.      When   sunrise    lifted    the    fog,   the    pursuers 


214     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

paused  like  stealthy  cats.  At  sunrise  Jean  de  la 
Verendrye  landed  his  crews  for  breakfast.  Camp-fires 
told  the   Indians  where  to  follow. 

A  few  days  later  bands  of  Sautaux  came  to  the 
camping  ground  of  the  French.  The  heads  of  the 
white  men  lay  on  a  beaver  skin.  All  had  been  scalped. 
The  missionary,  Aulneau,  was  on  his  knees,  as  if  in 
morning  prayers.  An  arrow  projected  from  his  head. 
His  left  hand  was  on  the  earth,  fallen  forward,  his 
right  hand  uplifted,  invoking  Divine  aid.  Young 
Verendrye  lay  face  down,  his  back  hacked  to  pieces, 
a  spear  sunk  in  his  waist,  the  headless  body  mockingly 
decorated  with  porcupine  quills.  So  died  one  of  the 
bravest  of  the  young  nobility  in  New  France. 

The  Sautaux  erected  a  cairn  of  stones  over  the 
bodies  of  the  dead.  All  that  was  known  of  the  mas- 
sacre was  vague  Indian  gossip.  The  Sioux  reported 
that  they  had  not  intended  to  murder  the  priest,  but  a 
crazy-brained  fanatic  had  shot  the  fatal  arrow  and 
broken  from  restraint,  weapon  in  hand.  Rain-storms 
had  washed  out  all  marks  of  the  fray. 

In  September  the  bodies  of  the  victims  were  carried 
to  Fort  St.  Charles,  and  interred  in  the  chapel.  Eight 
hundred  Crees  besought  M.  de  la  Verendrye  to  let 
them  avenge  the  murder ;  but  the  veteran  of  Mal- 
plaquet  exhorted  them  not  to  war.      Meanwhile,  Fort 


SEARCH    FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     215 

St.  Charles  awaited  the  coming  of  supplies  from  Lake 
Superior. 

IV 

1 736-1 740 

A  week  passed,  and  on  the  17th  of  June  the  canoe 
loads  of  ammunition  and  supplies  for  which  the  mur- 
dered voyageurs  had  been  sent  arrived  at  Fort  St. 
Charles.  In  June  the  Indian  hunters  came  in  with 
the  winter's  hunt ;  and  on  the  20th  thirty  Sautaux 
hurried  to  Fort  St.  Charles,  to  report  that  they  had 
found  the  mangled  bodies  of  the  massacred  French- 
men on  an  island  seven  leagues  from  the  fort.  Again 
La  Verendrye  had  to  choose  whether  to  abandon  his 
cherished  dreams,  or  follow  them  at  the  risk  of  ruin 
and  death.  As  before,  when  his  men  had  mutinied, 
he  determined  to  advance. 

Jean,  the  eldest  son,  was  dead.  Pierre  and  Fran- 
cois were  with  their  father.  Louis,  the  youngest,  now 
seventeen  years  of  age,  had  come  up  with  the  supplies. 
Pierre  at  once  went  to  Lake  Winnipeg,  to  prepare 
Fort  Maurepas  for  the  reception  of  all  the  forces. 
Winter  set  in.  Snow  lay  twelve  feet  deep  in  the 
forests  now  known  as  the  Minnesota  Borderlands. 
On  February  8,  1737,  in  the  face  of  a  biting  north 
wind,  with  the  thermometer  at  forty  degrees  below 
zero,  M.  de  la  Verendrye  left  Fort  St.  Charles,  Fran- 


2i6      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

9ois  carrying  the  French  flag,  with  ten  soldiers,  wearing 
snow-shoes,  in  line  behind,  and  two  or  three  hundred 
Crees  swathed  in  furs  bringing  up  a  ragged  rear.  The 
bright  uniforms  of  the  soldiers  were  patches  of  red 
among  the  snowy  everglades.  Bivouac  was  made  on 
beds  of  pine  boughs, —  feet  to  the  camp-fire,  the  night 
frost  snapping  like  a  whiplash,  the  stars  flashing  with 
a  steely  clearness  known  only  in  northern  climes.  The 
march  was  at  a  swift  pace,  for  three  weeks  by  canoe  is 
short  enough  time  to  traverse  the  Minnesota  and  Mani- 
toba Borderlands  northwest  to  Lake  Winnipeg  ;  and 
in  seventeen  days  M.  de  la  Verendrye  was  at  Fort 
Maurepas. 

Fort  Maurepas  (in  the  region  of  the  modern  Alex- 
ander) lay  on  a  tongue  of  sand  extending  into  the  lake 
a  few  miles  beyond  the  entrance  of  Red  River.  Tama- 
rack and  poplar  fringe  the  shore  ;  and  in  windy  weather 
the  lake  is  lashed  into  a  roughness  that  resembles  the 
flux  of  ocean  tides.  I  remember  once  going  on  a  steamer 
towards  the  site  of  Maurepas.  The  ship  drew  lightest 
of  draft.  While  we  were  anchored  the  breeze  fell,  and 
the  ship  was  stranded  as  if  by  ebb  tide  for  twenty-four 
hours.  The  action  of  the  wind  explained  the  Indian 
tales  of  an  ocean  tide,  which  had  misled  La  Verendrye 
into  expecting  to  find  the  Western  Sea  at  this  point. 
He  found  a  magnificent  body  of  fresh  water,  but 
not   the   ocean.     The   fort  was   the   usual   pioneer  fur 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     217 

post  —  a  barracks  of  unbarked  logs,  chinked  up  with 
frozen  clay  and  moss,  roofed  with  branches  and  snow, 
occupying  the  centre  of  a  courtyard,  palisaded  by  slabs 
of  pine  logs.  M.  de  la  Verendrye  was  now  in  the 
true  realm  of  the  explorer  —  in  territory  where  no 
other  white   man  had   trod.      With  a  shout  his  motley 


Traders'   Boats  running  the  Rapids  of  tiie  Athabasca  River. 

forces  emerged  from  the  snowy  tamaracks,  and  with  a 
shout  from  Pierre  de  la  Verendrye  and  his  tawny 
followers  the  explorer  w^as  welcomed  through  the  gate- 
way of  little  Fort  Maurepas. 

Pierre  de  la  Verendrye  had  heard  of  a  region  to  the 
south  much   frequented   by  the  Assiniboine    Indians, 


2i8      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

who  had  conducted  Radisson  to  the  Sea  of  the  North 
fifty  years  before — the  Forks  where  the  Assiniboine 
River  joins  the  Red,  and  the  city  of  Winnipeg  stands 
to-day.  It  was  reported  that  game  was  plentiful  here. 
Two  hundred  tepees  of  Assiniboines  were  awaiting  the 
explorer.  His  forces  were  worn  with  their  marching, 
but  in  a  few  weeks  the  glaze  of  ice  above  the  fathomless 
drifts  of  snow  would  be  too  rotten  for  travel,  and  not 
until  June  would  the  riverways  be  clear  for  canoes. 
But  such  a  scant  supply  of  goods  had  his  partners  sent 
up  that  poor  De  la  Verendrye  had  nothing  to  trade 
with  the  waiting  Assiniboines.  Sending  his  sons  for- 
ward to  reconnoitre  the  Forks  of  the  Assiniboine,  —  the 
modern  Winnipeg,  —  he  set  out  for  Montreal  as  soon 
as  navigation  opened,  taking  with  him  fourteen  great 
canoes  of  precious  furs. 

The  fourteen  canoe  loads  proved  his  salvation.  As 
long  as  there  were  furs  and  prospects  of  furs,  his  part- 
ners would  back  the  enterprise  of  finding  the  Western 
Sea.  The  winter  of  1738  was  spent  as  the  guest  of 
the  governor  at  Chateau  St.  Louis.  The  partners 
were  satisfied,  and  plucked  up  hope  of  their  venture. 
They  would  advance  provisions  in  proportion  to 
earnings.  By  September  he  was  back  at  Fort  Maure- 
pas  on  Lake  Winnipeg,  pushing  for  the  undiscovered 
bourne  of  the  Western  Sea.  Leaving  orders  for  trade 
with  the  chief  clerk  at    Maurepas,   De   la  Verendrye 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     219 

picked  out  his  most  intrepid  men  ;  and  in  September 
of  1738,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  white  men  glided 
up  the  ochre-colored,  muddy  current  of  the  Red  for 
the  Forks  of  the  Assiniboine.  Ten  Cree  wigwams 
and  two  war  chiefs  awaited  De  la  Verendrye  on  the 
low  flats  of  what  are  now  known  as  South  Winnipeg. 
Not  the  fabled  Western  Sea,  but  an  illimitable  ocean 
of  rolling  prairie  —  the  long  russet  grass  rising  and 
falling  to  the  wind  like  waves  to  the  run  of  invisible 
feet  —  stretched  out  before  the  eager  eyes  of  the 
explorer.  Northward  lay  the  autumn-tinged  brush- 
wood of  Red  River.  South,  shimmering  in  the 
purple  mists  of  Indian  summer,  was  Red  River 
Valley.  Westward  the  sun  hung  like  a  red  shield, 
close  to  the  horizon,  over  vast  reaches  of  prairie  billow- 
ing to  the  sky-line  in  the  tide  of  a  boundless  ocean. 
Such  was  the  discovery  of  the  Canadian  Northwest. 

Doubtless  the  weary  gaze  of  the  tired  voyageurs 
turned  longingly  westward.  Where  was  the  Western 
Sea  ?  Did  it  lie  just  beyond  the  horizon  where  sky- 
line and  prairie  met,  or  did  the  trail  of  their  quest  run 
on  —  on  —  on  —  endlessly?  The  Assiniboine  flows 
into  the  Red,  the  Red  into  Lake  Winnipeg,  the  Lake 
into  Hudson  Bay.  Plainly,  Assiniboine  Valley  was 
not  the  way  to  the  Western  Sea.  But  what  lay  just 
beyond  this  Assiniboine  Valley  ?  An  old  Cree  chief 
warned  the  boatmen  that    the  Assiniboine  River  was 


220     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

very  low  and  would  wreck  the  canoes  ;  but  he  also 
told  vague  yarns  of  "  great  waters  beyond  the  moun- 
tains of  the  setting  sun,"  where  white  men  dwelt,  and 


The  Ragged  Sky-line  of  the  Mountains. 

the  waves  came  in  a  tide,  and  the  waters  were  salt. 
The  Western  Sea  where  the  Spaniards  dwelt  had  long 
been  known.  It  was  a  Western  Sea  to  the  north,  that 
would  connect  Louisiana  and  Canada,  that  Dc  la  Veren- 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN    SEA     221 

drye  sought.  The  Indian  fables,  without  doubt,  referred 
to  a  sea  beyond  the  Assiniboine  River,  and  thither 
would  De  la  Verendrye  go  at  any  cost.  Some  sort  of 
barracks  or  shelter  was  knocked  up  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Assiniboine  opposite  the  flats.  It  was  subse- 
quently known  as  Fort  Rouge,  after  the  color  of  the 
adjacent  river,  and  was  the  foundation  of  Winnipeg. 
Leaving  men  to  trade  at  Fort  Rouge,  De  la  Verendrye 
set  out  on  September  26,  1738,  for  the  height  of  land 
that  must  lie  beyond  the  sources  of  the  Assiniboine.  De 
la  Verendrye  was  now  like  a  man  hounded  by  his  own 
Frankenstein.  A  thousand  leagues — every  one  marked 
by  disaster  and  failure  and  sinking  hopes  —  lay  behind 
him.  A  thousand  leagues  of  wilderness  lay  before 
him.  He  had  only  a  handful  of  men.  The  Assini- 
boine Indians  were  of  dubious  friendliness.  The 
white  men  were  scarce  of  food.  In  a  few  weeks  they 
would  be  exposed  to  the  terrible  rigors  of  Northern 
winter.  Yet  they  set  their  faces  toward  the  west,  types 
of  the  pioneers  who  have  carved  empire  out  of  wil- 
derness. 

The  Assiniboine  was  winding  and  low,  with  many 
sand  bars.  On  the  wooded  banks  deer  and  bufi^alo 
grazed  in  such  countless  multitudes  that  the  boatmen 
took  them  for  great  herds  of  cattle.  Flocks  of  wild 
geese  darkened  the  sky  overhead.  As  the  boats 
wound    up    the  shallows    of   the  river,  ducks  rose  in 


222     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

myriad  flocks.  Prairie  wolves  skulked  away  from  the 
river  bank,  and  the  sand-hill  cranes  were  so  unused  to 
human  presence  that  they  scarcely  rose  as  the  voya- 
geurs  poled  past.  While  the  boatmen  poled,  the 
soldiers  marched  in  military  order  across  country,  so 
avoiding  the  bends  of  the  river.  Daily,  Crees  and 
Assiniboines  of  the  plains  joined  the  white  men.  A 
week  after  leaving  the  Forks  or  Fort  Rouge,  De  la 
Verendrye  came  to  the  Portage  of  the  Prairie,  leading 
north  to  Lake  Manitoba  and  from  the  lake  to 
Hudson  Bay.  Clearly,  northward  was  not  the  way  to 
the  Western  Sea ;  but  the  Assiniboines  told  of  a  peo- 
ple to  the  southwest  —  the  Mandans  —  who  knew  a 
people  who  lived  on  the  Western  Sea.  As  soon  as 
his  baggage  came  up,  De  la  Verendrye  ordered  the  con- 
struction of  a  fort — called  De  la  Reine  —  on  the 
banks  of  the  Assiniboine.  This  was  to  be  the  for- 
warding post  for  the  Western  Sea.  To  the  Mandans 
living  on  the  Missouri,  who  knew  a  people  living  on 
salt  water,  De  la  Verendrye  now  directed  his  course. 

On  the  morning  of  October  1 8  drums  beat  to 
arms.  Additional  men  had  come  up  from  the  other 
forts.  Fifty-two  soldiers  and  voyageurs  now  stood  in 
line.  Arms  were  inspected.  To  each  man  were  given 
powder,  balls,  axe,  and  kettle.  Pierre  and  Fran9ois  de 
la  Verendrye  hoisted  the  French  flag.  For  the  first 
time  a  bugle  call  sounded  over  the  prairie.     At    the 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     223 

word,  out  stepped  the  little  band  of  white  men,  mark- 
ing time  for  the  Western  Sea.  The  course  lay  west- 
southwest,  up  the  Souris  River,  through  wooded 
ravines  now  stripped  of  foliage,  past  alkali  sloughs  ice- 
edged  by  frost,  over  rolling  cliffs  russet  and  bare,  where 
gopher  and  badger  and   owl  and  roving   buffalo  were 


Hungry  Hall,    1870;  near  the  site  of  the  Verendrye  Fort  in  Rainy 
River  Region. 

the  only  signs  of  life.  On  the  21st  of  October  two 
hundred  Assiniboine  warriors  joined  the  marching 
white  men.  In  the  sheltered  ravines  buffalo  grazed  by 
the  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  the  march  was  delayed 
by  frequent  buffalo  hunts  to  gather  pemmican  — 
pounded    marrow  and   fat  of  the  buffalo  —  which  was 


224     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

much  esteemed  by  the  Mandans.  Within  a  month 
so  many  Assiniboines  had  joined  the  French  that  the 
company  numbered  more  than  six  hundred  warriors, 
who  were  ample  protection  against  the  Sioux;  and  the 
Sioux  were  the  deadly  terror  of  all  tribes  of  the  plains. 
But  M.  de  la  Verendrye  was  expected  to  present 
ammunition  to  his  Assiniboine  friends. 

Four  outrunners  went  speeding  to  the  Missouri  to 
notify  the  Mandans  of  the  advancing  warriors.  The 
coiireurs  carried  presents  of  pemmican.  To  prevent 
surprise,  the  Assiniboines  marched  under  the  sheltered 
slopes  of  the  hills  and  observed  military  order.  In  front 
rode  the  warriors,  dressed  in  garnished  buckskin  and 
armed  with  spears  and  arrows.  Behind,  on  foot,  came 
the  old  and  the  lame.  To  the  rear  was  another  guard 
of  warriors.  Lagging  in  ragged  lines  far  back  came  a 
ragamuffin  brigade,  the  women,  children,  and  dogs 
—  squaws  astride  cayuses  lean  as  barrel  hoops,  chil- 
dren in  moss  bags  on  their  mothers'  backs,  and  horses 
and  dogs  alike  harnessed  with  the  travaille  —  two 
sticks  tied  into  a  triangle,  with  the  shafts  fastened  to  a 
cinch  on  horse  or  dog.  The  joined  end  of  the  shafts 
dragged  on  the  ground,  and  between  them  hung  the 
baggage,  surmounted  by  papoose,  or  pet  owl,  or  the 
half-tamed  pup  of  a  prairie-wolf,  or  even  a  wild-eyed 
young  squaw  with  hair  flying  to  the  wind.  At  night 
camp    was    made   in   a   circle    formed    of  the    hobbled 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN  SEA     225 

horses.  Outside,  the  dogs  scoured  in  pursuit  of 
coyotes.  The  women  and  children  took  refuge  in  the 
centre,  and  the  warriors  slept  near  their  picketed 
horses.  By  the  middle  of  November  the  motlev  caval- 
cade had  crossed  the  height  of  land  between  the  Assini- 
boine  River  and  the  Missouri,  and  was  heading  for 
the  Mandan  villages.  Mandan  coiireurs  came  out 
to  welcome  the  visitors,  pompously  presenting  De  la 
Verendrye  with  corn  in  the  ear  and  tobacco.  At  this 
stage,  the  explorer  discovered  that  his  bag  of  presents 
for  his  hosts  had  been  stolen  by  the  Assiniboines  ;  but 
he  presented  the  Mandans  with  what  ammunition  he 
could  spare,  and  gave  them  plenty  of  pemmican  which 
his  hunters  had  cured.  The  two  tribes  drove  a  brisk 
trade  in  furs,  which  the  northern  Indians  offered,  and 
painted  plumes,  which  the  Mandans  displayed  to  the 
envy  of  Assiniboine  warriors. 

On  the  3d  of  December,  De  la  Verendrye's  sons 
stepped  before  the  ragged  host  of  six  hundred  savages 
with  the  French  flag  hoisted.  The  explorer  himself 
was  lifted  to  the  shoulders  of  the  Mandan  coureurs. 
A  gun  was  fired  and  the  strange  procession  set  out  for 
the  Mandan  villages.  In  this  fashion  white  men  first 
took  possession  of  the  Upper  Missouri.  Some  miles 
from  the  lodges  a  band  of  old  chiefs  met  De  la  Veren- 
drye and  gravely  handed  him  a  grand  calumet  of  pipe- 
stone  ornamented  with  eagle  feathers.     This  typified 

Q 


226     PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 

peace.  De  la  Verendrye  ordered  his  fifty  French  fol- 
lowers to  draw  up  in  line.  The  sons  placed  the 
French  flag  four  paces  to  the  fore.  The  Assiniboine 
warriors  took  possession  in  stately  Indian  silence  to 
the  right  and  left  of  the  whites.  At  a  signal  three 
thundering  volleys  of  musketry  were  fired.  The 
Mandans  fell  back,  prostrated  with  fear  and  wonder. 
The  command  "forward"  was  given,  and  the  Man- 
dan  village  was  entered  in  state  at  four  in  the  afternoon 
of  December  3,  1738. 

The  village  was  in  much  the  same  condition  as  a 
hundred  years  later  when  visited  by  Prince  Maxi- 
milian and  by  the  artist  Catlin,  It  consisted  of 
circular  huts,  with  thatched  roofs,  on  which  perched  the 
gaping  women  and  children.  Around  the  village  of 
huts  ran  a  moat  or  ditch,  which  was  guarded  in  time 
of  war  with  the  Sioux.  Flags  flew  from  the  centre 
poles  of  each  hut ;  but  the  flags  were  the  scalps  of 
enemies  slain.  In  the  centre  of  the  village  was  a 
larger  hut.  This  was  the  "  medicine  lodge,"  or  council 
hall,  of  the  chiefs,  used  only  for  ceremonies  of  reHgion 
and  war  and  treaties  of  peace.  Thither  De  la  Verendrye 
was  conducted.  Here  the  Mandan  chiefs  sat  on 
bufi'alo  robes  in  a  circle  round  the  fire,  smoking  the 
calumet,  which  was  handed  to  the  white  man.  The 
explorer  then  told  the  Indians  of  his  search  for  the 
Western  Sea.      Of  a  Western  Sea  they  could  tell  him 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA     227 

nothing  definite.  They  knew  a  people  far  west  who 
grew  corn  and  tobacco  and  who  Hved  on  the  shores 
of  water  that  was  bitter  for  drinking.  The  people 
were  white.  They  dressed  in  armor  and  lived  in 
houses  of  stone.  Their  country  was  full  of  moun- 
tains. More  of  the  Western  Sea,  De  la  Verendrye 
could  not  learn. 

Meanwhile,  six  hundred  Assiniboine  visitors  were  a 
tax  on  the  hospitality  of  the  Mandans,  who  at  once 
spread  a  rumor  of  a  Sioux  raid.  This  gave  speed  to 
the  Assiniboines'  departure.  Among  the  Assiniboines 
who  ran  off  in  precipitate  fright  was  De  la  Verendrye's 
interpreter.  It  was  useless  to  wait  longer.  The 
French  were  short  of  provisions,  and  the  Missouri 
Indians  could  not  be  expected  to  support  fifty  white 
men.  Though  it  was  the  bitter  cold  of  midwinter,  De 
la  Verendrye  departed  for  Fort  de  la  Reine.  Two 
Frenchmen  were  left  to  learn  the  Missouri  dialects. 
A  French  flag  in  a  leaden  box  with  the  arms  of  France 
inscribed  was  presented  to  the  Mandan  chief;  and  De  la 
Verendrye  marched  from  the  village  on  the  8th  of 
December.  Scarcely  had  he  left,  when  he  fell  terribly 
ill ;  but  for  the  pathfinder  of  the  wilderness  there  is 
neither  halt  nor  retreat.  M.  de  la  Verendrye's  ragged 
army  tramped  wearily  on,  half  blinded  by  snow  glare 
and  buffeted  by  prairie  blizzards,  huddling  In  snow- 
drifts from  the  wind  at  night  and  uncertain  of  their 


228      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


compass  over  the  white  wastes  by  day.  There  Is 
nothing  so  deadly  silent  and  utterly  destitute  of  life  as 
the  prairie  in  midwinter.  Moose  and  buffalo  had 
sought  the  shelter  of  wooded  ravines.  Here  a  fox 
track  ran  over  the  snow.  There  a  coyote  skulked 
from  cover,  to  lope  away  the  next  instant  for  brush- 
wood or  hollow,  and  snow- 
buntings  or  whiskey-jacks 
might  have  followed  the 
marchers  for  pickings  of 
waste ;  but  east,  west, 
north,  and  south  was  noth- 
ing but  the  wide,  white 
wastes  of  drifted  snow. 
On  Christmas  Eve  of  1738 
low  curling  smoke  above 
the  prairie  told  the  wan- 
derers that  they  were  near- 
ing  the  Indian  camps  of 
the  Asslniboines;  and  by 
nightfall  of  February  10,  1739,  they  were  under  the 
shelter  of  Fort  de  la  Reine.  "  I  have  never  been  so 
wretched  from  illness  and  fatigue  in  all  my  life  as  on 
that  journey,"  reported  De  la  Verendrye.  As  usual, 
provisions  were  scarce  at  the  fort.  Fifty  people  had 
to  be  fed.  Buffalo  and  deer  meat  saved  the  French 
from  starvation  till  spring. 


A  Monarch  of  the  Plains. 


SEARCH    FOR   THE   WESTERN   SEA     229 

All  that  De  la  Verendrye  had  accomplished  on  this 
trip  was  to  learn  that  salt  water  existed  west-south- 
west. Anxious  to  know  more  of  the  Northwest,  he 
sent  his  sons  to  the  banks  of  a  great  northern  river. 
This  was  the  Saskatchewan.  In  their  search  of  the 
Northwest,  they  constructed  two  more  trading  posts. 
Fort  Dauphin  near  Lake  Manitoba,  and  Bourbon  on 
the  Saskatchewan.  Winter  quarters  were  built  at  the 
forks  of  the  river,  which  afterwards  became  the  site  of 
Fort  Poskoyac.  This  spring  not  a  canoe  load  of  food 
came  up  from  Montreal.  Papers  had  been  served  for 
the  seizure  of  all  De  la  Verendrye's  forts,  goods,  prop- 
erty, and  chattels  to  meet  the  claims  of  his  creditors. 
Desperate,  but  not  deterred  from  his  quest,  De  la  Veren- 
drye set  out  to  contest  the  lawsuits  in  Montreal. 

V 

1740-1750 

Which  way  to  turn  now  for  the  Western  Sea  that 
eluded  their  quest  like  a  will-o'-the-wisp  was  the 
question  confronting  Pierre,  Fran9ois,  and  Louis  de 
la  Verendrye  during  the  explorer's  absence  in  Mont- 
real. They  had  followed  the  great  Saskatchewan 
westward  to  its  forks.  No  river  was  found  in  this 
region  flowing  in  the  direction  of  the  Western  Sea. 
They  had  been  in  the  country  of  the   Missouri ;  but 


230     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

neither  did  any  river  there  flow  to  a  Western  Sea. 
Yet  the  Mandans  told  of  salt  water  far  to  the  west. 
Thither  they  would  turn  the  baffling  search. 

The  two  men  left  among  the  Mandans  to  learn  the 
language  had  returned  to  the  Assiniboine  River  with 
more  news  of  tribes  from  "  the  setting  sun  "  who 
dwelt  on  salt  water.  Pierre  de  la  Verendrye  went  down 
to  the  Missouri  with  the  two  interpreters  ;  but  the 
Mandans  refused  to  supply  guides  that  year,  and  the 
young  Frenchman  came  back  to  winter  on  the  Assini- 
boine. Here  he  made  every  preparation  for  another 
attempt  to  find  the  Western  Sea  by  way  of  the 
Missouri.  On  April  29,  1742,  the  two  brothers, 
Pierre  and  Francois,  left  the  Assiniboine  with  the  two 
interpreters.  Their  course  led  along  the  trail  that  for 
two  hundred  years  was  to  be  a  famous  highway  between 
the  Missouri  and  Hudson  Bay.  Heading  southwest, 
they  followed  the  Souris  River  to  the  watershed  of 
the  Missouri,  and  in  three  weeks  were  once  more  the 
guests  of  the  smoky  Mandan  lodges.  Round  the 
inside  walls  of  each  circular  hut  ran  berth  beds  of  buf- 
falo skin  with  trophies  of  the  chase, —  hide-shields  and 
weapons  of  war,  fastened  to  the  posts  that  separated 
berth  from  berth.  A  common  fire,  with  a  family  meat 
pot  hanging  above,  occupied  the  centre  of  the  lodge. 
In  one  of  these  lodges  the  two  brothers  and  their  men 
were  quartered.      The  summer  passed  feasting  with  the 


SEARCH    FOR  THE  WESTERN    SEA     231 

Mandans  and  smoking  the  calumet  of  peace;  but  all 
was  in  vain.  The  Missouri  Indians  were  arrant 
cowards  in  the  matter  of  war.  The  terror  of  their 
existence  was  the  Sioux.  The  Mandans  would  not 
venture  through  Sioux  territory  to  accompany  the 
brothers  in  the  search  for  the  Western  Sea.     At  last 


Fur  Traders'  Boats  towed  down  the  Saskatchewan  in  the  Sunmier  oi   IvOO. 


two  guides  were  obtained,  who  promised  to  conduct  the 
French  to  a  neighboring  tribe  that  might  know  of  the 
Western  Sea. 

The  party  set  out  on  horseback,  travelling  swiftly 
southwest  and  along  the  valley  of  the  Little  Missouri 
toward  the  Black  Hills.  Here  their  course  turned 
sharply  west  toward  the   Powder  River  country,  past 


232     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

the  southern  bounds  of  the  Yellowstone.  For  three 
weeks  they  saw  no  sign  of  human  existence.  Deer 
and  antelope  bounded  over  the  parched  alkali  uplands. 
Prairie  dogs  perched  on  top  of  their  earth  mounds,  to 
watch  the  lonely  riders  pass ;  and  all  night  the  far 
howl  of  grayish  forms  on  the  offing  of  the  starlit 
prairie  told  of  prowling  coyotes.  On  the  iith  of 
August  the  brothers  camped  on  the  Powder  Hills. 
Mounting  to  the  crest  of  a  cliff,  they  scanned  far  and 
wide  for  signs  of  the  Indians  whom  the  Mandans 
knew.  The  valleys  were  desolate.  Kindling  a  signal- 
fire  to  attract  any  tribes  that  might  be  roaming,  they 
built  a  hut  and  waited.  A  month  passed.  There  was 
no  answering  signal.  One  of  the  Mandan  guides 
took  himself  off  in  fright.  On  the  fifth  week  a  thin 
line  of  smoke  rose  against  the  distant  sky.  The 
remaining  Mandans  went  to  reconnoitre  and  found  a 
camp  of  Beaux  Hommes,  or  Crows,  who  received  the 
French  well.  Obtaining  fresh  guides  from  the  Crows 
and  dismissing  the  Mandans,  the  brothers  again 
headed  westward.  The  Crows  guided  them  to  the 
Horse  Indians,  who  in  turn  took  the  French  to  their 
next  western  neighbors,  the  Bows.  The  Bows  were 
preparing  to  war  on  the  Snakes,  a  mountain  tribe  to  the 
west.  Tepees  dotted  the  valley.  Women  were  pound- 
ing the  buffalo  meat  into  pemmican  for  the  raiders. 
The  young  braves  spent  the  night  with  war-song  and 


SEARCH    FOR   THE  WESTERN   SEA     233 

war-dance,  to  work  themselves  into  a  frenzy  of  bravado. 
The  Bows  were  to  march  west  ;  so  the  French  joined 
the  warriors,  gradually  turning  northwest  toward 
what  is  now  Helena. 

It  was  winter.  The  hills  were  powdered  with  snow 
that  obliterated  all  traces  of  the  fleeing  Snakes.  The 
way  became  more  mountainous  and  dangerous.  Iced 
sloughs  gave  place  to  swift  torrents  and  cataracts.  On 
New  Year's  day,  1743,  there  rose  through  the  gray 
haze  to  the  fore  the  ragged  sky-line  of  the  Bighorn 
Mountains.  Women  and  children  were  now  left  in  a 
sheltered  valley,  the  warriors  advancing  unimpeded. 
Fran9ois  de  la  Verendrye  remained  at  the  camp  to 
guard  the  baggage.  Pierre  went  on  with  the  raiders. 
In  two  weeks  they  were  at  the  foot  of  the  main 
range  of  the  northern  Rockies.  Against  the  sky  the 
snowy  heights  rose  —  an  impassable  barrier  between 
the  plains  and  the  Western  Sea.  What  lay  beyond  — 
the  Beyond  that  had  been  luring  them  on  and  on, 
from  river  to  river  and  land  to  land,  for  more  than 
ten  years  ?  Surely  on  the  other  side  of  those  lofty 
summits  one  might  look  down  on  the  long-sought 
Western  Sea.  Never  suspecting  that  another  thou- 
sand miles  of  wilderness  and  mountain  fastness  lay 
between  him  and  his  quest,  young  De  la  Verendrye 
wanted  to  cross  the  Great  Divide.  Destiny  decreed 
otherwise.     The  raid  of  the   Bows  against  the  Snakes 


234     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

ended  in  a  fiasco.  No  Snakes  were  to  be  found  at 
their  usual  winter  hunt.  Had  they  decamped  to  mas- 
sacre the  Bow  women  and  children  left  in  the  valley 
to  the  rear  ^  The  Bows  fled  back  to  their  wives  in  a 
panic;  so  De  la  Verendrye  could  not  climb  the  moun- 
tains that  barred  the  way  to  the  sea.  The  retreat  was 
made  in  the  teeth  of  a  howling  mountain  blizzard, 
and  the  warriors  reached  the  rendezvous  more  dead 
than  alive.  No  Snake  Indians  were  seen  at  all.  The 
Bows  marched  homeward  along  the  valley  of  the  Upper 
Missouri  through  the  country  of  the  Sioux,  with  whom 
they  were  allied.  On  the  banks  of  the  river  the 
brothers  buried  a  leaden  plate  with  the  royal  arms 
of  France  imprinted.  At  the  end  of  July,  1743,  they 
were  once  more  back  on  the  Assiniboine  River.  For 
thirteen  years  they  had  followed  a  hopeless  quest. 
Instead  of  a  Western  Sea,  they  had  found  a  sea  of 
prairie,  a  sea  of  mountains,  and  two  great  rivers,  the 
Saskatchewan  and  the  Missouri. 

VI 

1743-1750 

But  the  explorer,  who  had  done  so  much  to  extend 
French  domain  in  the  West,  was  a  ruined  man.  To 
the  accusations  of  his  creditors  were  added  the  jealous 
calumnies    of   fur    traders    eager    to    exploit    the    new 


SEARCH   FOR  THE  WESTERN   SEA 


ns 


country.  The  eldest  son,  with  tireless  energy,  had 
gone  up  the  Saskatchewan  to  Fort  Poskoyac  when  he 
was  recalled  to  take  a  position  in  the  army  at  Mont- 
real. In  1746  De  la  Verendrye  himself  was  summoned 
to  Quebec  and  his  command  given  to  M.  de  Noyelles. 
The  game  being  played  by  jealous  rivals  was  plain. 
De  la  Verendrye  was  to  be  kept  out  of  the  West  while 
tools  of  the  Quebec  traders  spied  out  the  fur  trade 
of  the  Assiniboine  and  the  Missouri.  Immediately  on 
receiving  freedom  from  military  duty,  young  Chevalier 
de  la  Verendrye  set  out  for  Manitoba.  On  the  v*^ay 
he  met  his  father's  successor,  M.  de  Noyelles,  coming 
home  crestfallen.  The  supplanter  had  failed  to  con- 
trol the  Indians.  In  one  year  half  the  forts  of  the 
chain  leading  to  the  Western  Sea  had  been  destroyed. 
These  Chevalier  de  la  Verendrye  restored  as  he  passed 
westward. 

Governor  Beauharnois  had  always  refused  to  believe 
the  charges  of  private  peculation  against  M.  de  la 
Verendrye.  Governor  de  la  Galissonniere  was  equally 
favorable  to  the  explorer  ;  and  De  la  Verendrye  was 
decorated  with  the  Order  of  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis, 
and  given  permission  to  continue  his  explorations. 
The  winter  of  1749  was  passed  preparing  supplies 
for  the  posts  of  the  West ;  but  a  life  of  hardship  and 
disappointment  had  undermined  the  constitution  of 
the  dauntless  pathfinder.     On  the  6th  of  December, 


236      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

while  busy  with  phms  for  his  hazardous  and   thankless 
quest,  he  died  suddenly  at  Montreal. 

Rival  fur  traders  scrambled  for  the  spoils  of  the 
Manitoba  and  Missouri  territory  like  dogs  for  a  bone. 
De  la  Jonquiere  had  become  governor.  Allied  with 
him  was  the  infamous  Bigot,  the  intendant,  and  those 
two  saw  in  the  Western  fur  trade  an  opportunity  to 


'    Tcpjt-.  doued  the  valley." 

enrich  themselves.  The  rights  of  De  la  Verendrye's 
sons  to  succeed  their  father  were  entirely  disregarded. 
Legardeur  de  Saint-Pierre  was  appointed  commander 
of  the  Western  Sea.  The  very  goods  forwarded  by 
De   la  Verendrye  were  confiscated. 

But  Saint-Pierre  had  enough  trouble  from  his  ap- 
pointment. His  lieutenant,  M.  de  Niverville,  almost 
lost   his    life    among    hostiles    on    the   way    down    the 


SEARCH    FOR   THE   WESTERN   SEA     237 

Saskatchewan  after  building  Fort  Lajonquiere  at  the 
foothills  of  the  Rockies,  where  Calgary  now  stands. 
Saint-Pierre  had  headquarters  in  Manitoba  on  the 
Assiniboine,  and  one  afternoon  in  midwinter,  when 
his  men  were  out  hunting,  he  saw  his  fort  suddenly 
fill  with  armed  Assiniboines  bent  on  massacre.  They 
jostled  him  aside,  broke  into  the  armory,  and  helped 
themselves  to  weapons.  Saint-Pierre  had  only  one 
recourse.  Seizing  a  firebrand,  he  tore  the  cover  off 
a  keg  of  powder  and  threatened  to  blow  the  Indians 
to  perdition.  The  marauders  dashed  from  the  fort, 
and  Saint-Pierre  shot  the  bolts  of  gate  and  sally- 
port. When  the  white  hunters  returned,  they  quickly 
gathered  their  possessions  together  and  abandoned 
Fort  de  la  Reine.  Four  days  later  the  fort  lay  in 
ashes.  So  ended  the  dream  of  enthusiasts  to  find  a 
way  overland  to  the  Western  Sea. 


PART   III 

1 769-1 782 

SEARCH  FOR  THE  NORTHWEST  PASSAGE  LEADS 
SAMUEL  HEARNE  TO  THE  ARCTIC  CIRCLE  AND 
ATHABASCA    REGION 


CHAPTER   IX 

1769-1782 

SAMUEL   HEARNE 

The  Adventures  of  Hearne  in  his  Search  for  the  Coppermine  River  and 
the  Northwest  Passage  —  Hilarious  Life  of  Wassail  led  by  Gov- 
ernor Norton  —  The  Massacre  of  the  Eskimo  by  Hearne' s  Indians 
North  of  the  Arctic  Circle  —  Discovery  of  the  Athabasca  Country 
—  Hearne  becomes  Resident  Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, but  is  captured  by  the  French  —  Frightful  Death  of  Norton 
and  Suicide  of  Matonabbee 

For  a  hundred  years  after  receiving  its  charter  to 
exploit  the  furs  of  the  North,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  slumbered  on  the  edge  of  a  frozen  sea. 

Its  fur  posts  were  scattered  round  the  desolate 
shores  of  the  Northern  bay  like  beads  on  a  string  ; 
but  the  languid  Company  never  attempted  to  penetrate 
the  unknown  lands  beyond  the  coast.  It  was  un- 
necessary. The  Indians  came  to  the  Company.  The 
company  did  not  need  to  go  to  the  Indians.  Just  as 
surely  as  spring  cleared  the  rivers  of  ice  and  set  the 
unlocked  torrents  rushing  to  the  sea,  there  floated 
down-stream  Indian  dugout  and  birch  canoe,  loaded 
R  241 


242      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


with  wealth  of  peltries  for  the  fur  posts  of  the  English 
Company.  So  the  English  sat  snugly  secure  inside 
their  stockades,  lords  of  the  wilderness,  and  drove  a 
thriving  trade  with  folded  hands.      For  a  penny  knife, 

they  bought  a  beaver  skin  ;  and 
the  skin  sold  in  Europe  for  two 
or  three  shillings.  The  trade  of 
the  old  Company  was  not  brisk ; 
but  it  paid. 

It  was  the  prod  of  keen  French 
traders  that  stirred  the  slumber- 
ing giant.  In  his  search  for  the 
Western  Sea,  De  la  Verendrye 
had  pushed  west  by  way  of  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Missouri  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
Saskatchewan.  Henceforth,  not 
so  many  furs  came  down-stream 
to  the  English  Company  on  the 
,      -  '^'""  •  bay.      De  la  Verendrye  had  been 

An  Eskimo  Belle.    Note     followed  by  hosts  of  free-lances 

the    apron    of     ern^ine       ^  coUVeurS  2ind  VOyas:eurS —  \N\iO 
and  sable.  "     '^ 

spread  through  the  wilderness 
from  the  Missouri  to  the  Athabasca,  intercepting 
the  fleets  of  furs  that  formerly  went  to  Hudson 
Bay.  The  English  Company  rubbed  its  eyes ;  and 
rivals   at    home    began    to  ask   what    had   been    done 


SAMUEL   HEARNE  243 

in  return  for  the  charter.  France  had  never  ceased 
seeking  the  mythical  Western  Sea  that  was  sup- 
posed to  he  just  beyond  the  Mississippi;  and  when 
French  buccaneers  destroyed  the  EngHsh  Company's 
forts  on  the  bay,  the  English  ambassador  at  Paris 
exacted  such  an  enormous  bill  of  damages  that  the 
Hudson  Bay  traders  were  enabled  to  build  a  stronger 
fortress  up  at  Prince  of  Wales  on  the  mouth  of 
Churchill  River  than  the  French  themselves  pos- 
sessed at  Quebec  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  What  — 
asked  the  rivals  of  the  Company  in  London  —  had 
been  done  in  return  for  such  national  protection  ? 
France  had  discovered  and  explored  a  whole  new  world 
north  of  the  Missouri.  What  had  the  English  done? 
Where  did  the  Western  Sea  of  which  Spain  had  pos- 
session in  the  South  lie  towards  the  North  ?  What 
lay  between  the  Hudson  Bay  and  that  Western  Sea? 
Was  there  a  Northwest  passage  by  water  through  this 
region  to  Asia  ?  If  not,  was  there  an  undiscovered 
world  in  the  North,  like  Louisiana  in  the  South  ? 
There  was  talk  of  revoking  the  charter.  Then  the 
Company  awakened  from  its  long  sleep  with  a  mighty 
stir. 

The  annual  boats  that  came  out  to  Hudson  Bay  in 
the  summer  of  1769  anchored  on  the  offing,  six  miles 
from  the  gray  walls  of  Fort  Prince  of  Wales,  and 
roared  out  a  salute  of  cannon  becoming  the  importance 


244     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

of  ships  that  bore  ahiiost  revolutionary  commissions. 
The  fort  cannon  on  the  walls  of  Churchill  River 
thundered  their  answer.  A  pinnace  came  scudding 
over  the  waves  from  the  ships.  A  gig  boat  launched 
out  from  the  fort  to  welcome  the  messengers.  Where 
the  two  met  halfway,  packets  of  letters  were  handed 
to  Moses  Norton,  governor  at  Fort  Prince  of 
Wales,  commanding  him  to  despatch  his  most  in- 
trepid explorers  for  the  discovery  of  unknown  rivers, 
strange  lands,  rumored  copper  mines,  and  the  mythical 
Northwest  Passage  that  was  supposed  to  lead  directly 
to  China. 

The  fort  lay  on  a  spit  of  sand  running  out  into  the 
bay  at  the  mouth  of  Churchill  River.  It  was  three 
hundred  yards  long  by  three  hundred  yards  wide, 
with  four  bastions,  in  three  of  which  were  stores  and 
wells  of  water.  The  fourth  bastion  contained  the 
powder-magazine.  The  walls  were  thirty  feet  wide  at 
the  bottom  and  twenty  feet  wide  at  the  top,  of  ham- 
mer-dressed stone,  mounted  with  forty  great  cannon. 
A  commodious  stone  house,  furnished  with  all  the 
luxuries  of  the  chase,  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  court- 
yard. This  was  the  residence  of  the  governor. 
Offices,  warehouses,  barracks,  and  hunters'  lodges  were 
banked  round  the  inner  walls  of  the  fort.  The  garri- 
son consisted  of  thirty-nine  common  soldiers  and  a 
few  officers.      In  addition,  there  hung  about  the  fort 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  245 

the  usual  habitues  of  a  Northern  fur  post,  —  young 
clerks  from  England,  who  had  come  out  for  a  year's 
experience  in  the  wilds ;  underpaid  artisans,  striving 
to  mend  their  fortunes  by  illicit  trade ;  hunters  and 
coureurs  and  voyageurs,  living  like  Indians  but  with 
a  strain  of  white  blood  that  forever  distinguished  them 
from  their  comrades ;  stately  Indian  sachems,  stalk- 
ing about  the  fort  with  whiffs  of  contempt  from  their 
long  calumets  for  all  this  white-man  luxury  ;  and  a 
ragamuffin  brigade,  —  squaws,  youngsters,  and  beg- 
gars,—  who  subsisted  by  picking  up  food  from  the 
waste  heap  of  the  fort. 

The  commission  to  despatch  explorers  to  the  inland 
country  proved  the  sensation  of  a  century  at  the  fort. 
Round  the  long  mess-room  table  gathered  officers  and 
traders,  intent  on  the  birch-bark  maps  drawn  by  old 
Indian  chiefs  of  an  unknown  interior,  where  a  "  Far- 
Off-Metal  River"  flowed  down  to  the  Northwest 
Passage.  Huge  log  fires  blazed  on  the  stone  hearths 
at  each  end  of  the  mess  room.  Smoky  lanterns  and 
pine  fagots,  dipped  in  tallow  and  stuck  in  iron 
clamps,  shed  a  fitful  light  from  rafters  that  girded 
ceiling  and  walls.  On  the  floor  of  flagstones  lay 
enormous  skins  of  the  chase  —  polar  bear,  Arctic  wolf, 
and  grizzly.  Heads  of  musk-ox,  caribou,  and  deer 
decorated  the  great  timber  girders.  Draped  across 
the  walls  were    Company  flags  —  an    English    ensign 


246     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

with  the  letters  "  H.  B.  C."  painted  in  white  on  a  red 
background,  or  in  red  on  a  white  background. 

At  the  head  of  the  table  sat  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able scoundrels  known  in  the  annals  of  the  Company, 
Moses  Norton,  governor  of  Fort  Prince  of  Wales,  a 
full-blooded  Indian,  who  had  been  sent  to  England 
for  nine  years  to  be  educated  and  had  returned  to  the 
fort  to  resume  all  the  vices  and  none  of  the  virtues  of 
white  man  and  red.  Clean-skinned,  copper-colored,  j 
lithe  and  wiry  as  a  tiger  cat,  with  the  long,  lank,  oily 
black  hair  of  his  race,  Norton  bore  himself  with  all 
the  airs  of  a  European  princelet  and  dressed  himself 
in  the  beaded  buckskins  of  a  savage.  Before  him  the 
Indians  cringed  as  before  one  of  their  demon  gods, 
and  on  the  same  principle.  Bad  gods  could  do  the 
Indians  harm.  Good  gods  wouldn't.  Therefore, 
the  Indians  propitiated  the  bad  gods  ;  and  of  all 
Indian  demons  Norton  was  the  worst.  The  black 
arts  of  mediaeval  poisoning  were  known  to  him,  and 
he  never  scrupled  to  use  them  against  an  enemy. 
The  Indians  thought  him  possessed  of  the  power  of 
the  evil  eye ;  but  his  power  was  that  of  arsenic  or 
laudanum  dropped  in  the  food  of  an  unsuspecting 
enemy.  Two  of  his  wives,  with  all  of  whom  he  was 
inordinately  jealous,  had  died  of  poison.  Against 
white  men  who  might  offend  him  he  used  more  open 
means, —  the  triangle,  the  whipping  post,  the  branding 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  247 

iron.  Needless  to  say  that  a  man  who  wielded  such 
power  swelled  the  Company's  profits  and  stood  high 
in  favor  with  the  directors.  At  his  right  hand  lay  an 
enormous  bunch  of  keys.  These  he  carried  with  him 
by  day  and  kept  under  his  pillow  by  night.  They 
were  the  keys  to  the  apartments  of  his  many  wives, 
for  like  all  Indians  Norton  believed  in  a  plurality  of 
wives,  and  the  life  of  no  Indian  was  safe  who  refused 
to  contribute  a  daughter  to  the  harem.  The  two 
master  passions  of  the  governor  were  jealousy  and 
tyranny  ;  and  while  he  lived  like  a  Turkish  despot 
himself,  he  ruled  his  fort  with  a  rod  of  iron  and  left 
the  brand  of  his  wrath  on  the  person  of  soldier  or 
officer  who  offered  indignity  to  the  Indian  race.  It 
was  a  common  thing  for  Norton  to  poison  an  Indian 
who  refused  to  permit  a  daughter  to  join  the  collec- 
tion of  wives  ;  then  to  flog  the  back  off  a  soldier  who 
casually  spoke  to  one  of  the  wives  in  the  courtyard  ; 
and  in  the  evening  spend  the  entire  supper  hour 
preaching  sermons  on  virtue  to  his  men.  By  a 
curious  freak,  Marie,  his  daughter,  now  a  child  of 
nine,  inherited  from  her  father  the  gentle  qualities  of 
the  English  life  in  which  he  had  passed  his  youth. 
She  shunned  the  native  women  and  was  often  to  be 
seen  hanging  on  her  father's  arm,  as  officers  and 
governor  smoked  their  pipes  over  the  mess-room 
table. 


248      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Near  Norton    sat  another  famous  Indian,  Matonab- 
bee,  the  son  of  a   slave  woman   at   the    fort,  who   had 


.irda- 


S;i:mi'l    H'_;:ii'ne. 


grown  up  to  become  a  great  ambassador  to  the  native 
tribes  for  the  English  traders.      Measuring  more  than 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  249 

six  feet,  straight  as  a  lance,  supple  as  a  wrestler,  thin, 
wiry,  alert,  restless  with  the  instinct  of  the  wild 
creatures,  Matonabbee  was  now  in  the  prime  of  his 
manhood,  chief  of  the  Chipewyans  at  the  fort,  and 
master  of  life  and  death  to  all  in  his  tribe.  It  was 
Matonabbee  whom  the  English  traders  sent  up  the 
Saskatchewan  to  invite  the  tribes  of  the  Athabasca 
down  to  the  bay.  The  Athabascans  listened  to  the 
message  of  peace  with  a  treacherous  smile.  At  mid- 
night assassins  stole  to  his  tent,  overpowered  his 
slave,  and  dragged  the  captive  out.  Leaping  to  his 
feet,  Matonabbee  shouted  defiance,  hurled  his  assail- 
ants aside  like  so  many  straws,  pursued  the  raiders  to 
their  tents,  single-handed  released  his  slave,  and 
marched  out  unscathed.  That  was  the  way  Matonab- 
bee had  won  the  Athabascans  for  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company. 

Officers  of  the  garrison,  bluff  sea-captains,  spinning 
yarns  of  iceberg  and  floe,  soldiers  and  traders,  made 
up  the  rest  of  the  company.  Among  the  white  men 
was  one  eager  face,  —  that  of  Samuel  Hearne,  who  was 
to  explore  the  interior  and  now  scanned  the  birch- 
bark  drawings  to  learn  the  way  to  the  "Far-off-Metal 
River." 

By  November  6  all  was  in  readiness  for  the 
departure  of  the  explorer.  Two  Indian  guides,  who 
knew  the  way  to  the  North,  were  assigned  to  Hearne; 


250     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

two  European  servants  went  with  him  to  look  after 
the  provisions;  and  two  Indian  hunters  joined  the 
company.  In  the  gray  mist  of  Northern  dawn,  with 
the  stars  still  pricking  through  the  frosty  air,  seven 
salutes  of  cannon  awakened  the  echoes  of  the  frozen 


Eskimo  usiiie   Double-bladed  Paddle. 


sea.  The  gates  of  the  fort  flung  open,  creaking  with 
the  frost  rust,  and  Hearne  came  out,  followed  by  his 
little  company,  the  dog  bells  of  the  long  toboggan 
sleighs  setting  up  a  merry  jingling  as  the  huskies 
broke  from  a  trot  to  a  gallop  over  the  snow-fields 
for    the    North.       Heading  west-northwest,  the    band 


SAMUEL   HEARNE  251 

travelled  swiftly  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  untested 
courage.  North  winds  cut  their  faces  like  whip-lashes. 
The  first  night  out  there  was  not  enough  snow  to 
make  a  wind-break  of  the  drifts  ;  so  the  sleighs  were 
piled  on  edge  to  windward,  dogs  and  men  lying 
heterogeneously  in  their  shelter.  When  morning 
came,  one  of  the  Indian  guides  had  deserted.  The 
way  became  barer.  Frozen  swamps  across  which  the 
storm  wind  swept  with  hurricane  force  were  succeeded 
by  high,  rocky  barrens  devoid  of  game,  unsheltered, 
with  barely  enough  stunted  shrubbery  for  the  whit- 
tling of  chips  that  cooked  the  morning  and  night 
meals.  In  a  month  the  travellers  had  not  accom- 
plished ten  miles  a  day.  Where  deer  were  found 
the  Indians  halted  to  gorge  themselves  with  feasts. 
Where  game  was  scarce  they  lay  in  camp,  depending 
on  the  white  hunters.  Within  three  weeks  rations  had 
dwindled  to  one  partridge  a  day  for  the  entire  company. 
The  Indians  seemed  to  think  that  Hearne's  white  ser- 
vants had  secret  store  of  food  on  the  sleighs.  The 
savages  refused  to  hunt.  Then  Hearne  suspected 
some  ulterior  design.  It  was  to  drive  him  back  to 
the  fort  by  famine.  Henceforth,  he  noticed  on  the 
march  that  the  Indians  always  preceded  the  whites  and 
secured  any  game  before  his  men  could  fire  a  shot. 
One  night  toward  the  end  of  November  the  savages 
plundered  the  sleighs.   Hearne  awakened  in  amazement 


252     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

to  see  the  company  marching  off,  laden  with  guns,  am- 
munition, and  hatchets.  He  called.  Their  answer  was 
laughter  that  set  the  woods  ringing.  Hearne  was  now 
two  hundred  miles  from  the  fort,  without  either  ammu- 
nition or  food.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  turn 
back.  The  weather  was  fair.  By  snaring  partridges, 
the  white  men  obtained  enough  game  to  sustain  them 
till  they  reached  the  fort  on  the  iith  of  December. 

The  question  now  was  whether  to  wait  till  spring 
or  set  out  in  the  teeth  of  midwinter.  If  Hearne  left 
the  fort  in  spring,  he  could  not  possibly  reach  the 
Arctic  Circle  till  the  following  winter ;  and  with  the 
North  buried  under  drifts  of  snow,  he  could  not  learn 
where  lay  the  Northwest  Passage.  If  he  left  the 
fort  in  winter  in  order  to  reach  the  Arctic  in  summer, 
he  must  expose  his  guides  to  the  risks  of  cold  and 
starvation.  The  Indians  told  of  high,  rocky  barrens, 
across  which  no  canoes  could  be  carried.  They  ad- 
vised snow-shoe  travel.  Obtaining  three  Chipewyans 
and  two  Crees  as  guides,  and  taking  no  white  servants, 
Hearne  once  more  set  out,  on  February  23,  1770, 
for  the  "  Far- Away- Metal  River."  This  time  there 
was  no  cannonading.  The  guns  were  buried  under 
snow-drifts  twenty  feet  deep,  and  the  snow-shoes  of 
the  travellers  glided  over  the  fort  walls  to  the  echoing 
cheers  of  soldiers  and  governor  standing  on  the  ram- 
parts.      The   comj-iany   travelled    light,  depending  on 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  253 

chance  game  for  food.  All  wood  that  could  be  used 
for  fire  lay  hidden  deep  under  snow.  At  wide  inter- 
vals over  the  white  wastes  mushroom  cones  of  snow 
told  where  a  stunted  tree  projected  the  antlered 
branches  of  topmost  bough  through  the  depths  of 
drift ;  but  for  the  most  part  camp  was  made  by  dig- 
ging through  the  shallowest  snow  with  snow-shoes  to 
the  bottom  of  moss,  which  served  the  double  purpose 
of  fuel  for  the  night  kettle  and  bed  for  travellers.  In 
the  hollow  a  wigwam  was  erected,  with  the  door  to  the 
south,  away  from  the  north  wind.  Snared  rabbits  and 
partridges  supplied  the  food.  The  way  lay  as  before  — 
west-northwest  —  along  a  chain  of  frozen  lakes  and 
rivers  connecting  Hudson  Bay  with  the  Arctic  Ocean. 
By  April  the  marchers  were  on  the  margin  of  a  desolate 
wilderness — the  Indian  region  of  "Little  Sticks,"  — 
known  to  white  men  as  the  Barren  Lands,  where 
dwarf  trees  project  above  the  billowing  wastes  of  snow 
like  dismantled  masts  on  the  far  ofiing  of  a  lonely  sea. 
Game  became  scarcer.  Neither  the  round  footprint 
of  the  hare  nor  the  frost  tracery  of  the  northern  grouse 
marked  the  snowy  reaches  of  unbroken  white.  Cari- 
bou had  retreated  to  the  sheltered  woods  of  the  inte- 
rior;  and  a  cleverer  hunter  than  man  had  scoured  the 
wide  wastes  of  game.  Only  the  wolf  pack  roamed  the 
Barren  Lands.  It  was  unsafe  to  go  on  without  food. 
Hearne  kept  in  camp  till  the  coming  of  the  goose  month 


254     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

—  April  —  when  birds  of  passage  wended  their  way- 
north.  For  three  days  rations  consisted  of  snow  water 
and  pipes  of  tobacco.  The  Indians  endured  the  pri- 
vations with  stoical  indifference,  daily  marching  out  on 
a  bootless  quest  for  game.  On  the  third  night 
Hearne  was  alone  in  his  tent.  Twilight  deepened  to 
night,  night  to  morning.  Still  no  hunters  returned. 
Had  he  been  deserted  ?  Not  a  sound  broke  the 
waste  silence  but  the  baying  of  the  wolf  pack.  Weak 
from  hunger,  Hearne  fell  asleep.  Before  daylight  he 
was  awakened  by  a  shout ;  and  his  Indians  shambled 
over  the  drifts  laden  with  haunches  of  half  a  dozen 
deer.  That  relieved  want  till  the  coming  of  the  geese. 
In  May  Hearne  struck  across  the  Barren  Lands. 
By  June  the  rotting  snow  clogged  the  snow-shoes. 
Dog  trains  drew  heavy,  and  food  was  again  scarce. 
For  a  week  the  travellers  found  nothing  to  eat  but 
cranberries.  Half  the  company  was  ill  from  hunger 
when  a  mangy  old  musk-ox,  shedding  his  fur  and  lean 
as  barrel  hoops,  came  scrambling  over  the  rocks,  sure 
of  foot  as  a  mountain  goat.  A  single  shot  brought 
him  down.  In  spite  of  the  musky  odor  of  which  the 
coarse  flesh  reeked,  every  morsel  of  the  ox  was  in- 
stantly devoured.  Sometimes  during  their  long  fasts 
they  would  encounter  a  solitary  Indian  wandering  over 
the  rocky  barren.  If  he  had  arms,  gun,  or  arrow, 
and    carried    skins   of  the  chase,   he   was   welcomed  to 


SAMUEL    HEARNE 


^55 


camp,  no  matter  how  scant  the  fare.  Otherwise  he 
was  shunned  as  an  outcast,  never  to  be  touched  or 
addressed  by  a  human  being;  for  only  one  thing 
could  have  fed  an  Indian  on  the  Barren  Lands  who 
could  show  no  trophies  of  the  chase,  and  that  was  the 
flesh  of  some  human  creature  weaker  than  himself 
The  outcast  was  a  cannibal,  condemned  by  an  un- 
written law  to  wander  alone  through  the  wastes. 

Snow  had  barely  cleared  from  the  Barren  Lands 
when  Hearne  witnessed  the  great  traverse  of  the 
caribou  herds,  marching  in  countless  multitudes  with 
a  clicking  of  horns  and  hoofs  from  west  to  east  for  the 
summer.  Indians  from  all  parts  of  the  North  had 
placed  themselves  at  rivers  across  the  line  of  march  to 
spear  the  caribou  as  they  swam  ;  and  Hearne  was  joined 
by  a  company  of  six  hundred  savages.  Summer  had 
dried  the  moss.  That  gave  abundance  of  fuel.  Cari- 
bou were  plentiful.  That  supplied  the  hunters  with 
pemmican.  Hearne  decided  to  pass  the  following 
winter  with  the  Indians ;  but  he  was  one  white  man 
among  hundreds  of  savages.  Nightly  his  ammunition 
was  plundered.  One  of  his  survey  instruments  was 
broken  in  a  wind  storm.  Others  were  stolen.  It 
was  useless  to  go  on  without  instruments  to  take 
observations  of  the  Arctic  Circle ;  so  for  a  second 
time  Hearne  was  compelled  to  turn  back  to  Fort 
Prince  of  Wales.     Terrible  storms  impeded  the  return 


1^6     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

march.  His  dogr  was  frozen  in  the  traces.  Tent 
poles  were  used  for  fire-wood  ;  and  the  northern 
lights  served  as  the  only  compass.  On  midday  of 
November  25,  1770,  after  eight  months'  absence,  in 
which  he  had  not  found  the  "  Far-OfF-Metal  River," 
Hearne  reached  shelter  inside  the  fort  walls. 

Beating  through  the  gales  of  sleet  and  snow  on  the 
homeward  march,  Hearne  had  careened  into  a  majestic 
figure  half  shrouded  by  the  storm.  The  explorer 
halted  before  a  fur-muiBed  form,  six  feet  in  its  mocca- 
sins, erect  as  a  mast  pole,  haughty  as  a  king ;  and  the 
gauntleted  hand  of  the  Indian  chief  went  up  to  his 
forehead  in  sign  of  peace.  It  was  Matonabbee,  the 
ambassador  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  to  the 
Athabascans,  now  returning  to  Fort  Prince  of  Wales, 
followed  by  a  long  line  of  slave  women  driving  their  dog 
sleighs.  The  two  travellers  hailed  each  other  through 
the  storm  like  ships  at  sea.  That  night  they  camped 
together  on  the  lee  side  of  the  dog  sleighs,  piled  high 
as  a  wind-break  ;  and  Matonabbee,  the  famous  courser 
of  the  Northern  wastes,  gave  Hearne  wise  advice. 
Women  should  be  taken  on  a  long  journey,  the  Indian 
chief  said  ;  for  travel  must  be  swift  through  the  deadly 
cold  of  the  barrens.  Men  must  travel  light  of  hand, 
trusting  to  chance  game  for  food.  Women  were  needed 
to  snare  rabbits,  catch  partridges,  bring  in  game  shot 
by  the  braves,  and  attend  to  the  camping.     And  then 


SAMUEL   HEARNE  257 

in  a  buist  of  enthusiasm,  perhaps  warmed  by  Hearne's 
fine  tobacco,  Matonabbee,  who  had  found  the  way  to 
the  Athabasca,  offered  to  conduct  the  white  man  to 
the  "  Far-Off- Metal  River  "  of  the  Arctic  Circle.  The 
chief  was  the  greatest  pathfinder  of  the  Northern  tribes. 
His  offer  was  the  chance  of  a  lifetime.  Hearne  could 
hardly  restrain  his  eagerness  till  he  reached  the  fort. 
Leaving  Matonabbee  to  follow  with  the  slave  women, 
the  explorer  hurried  to  Fort  Prince  of  Wales,  laid  the 
plan  before  Governor  Norton,  and  in  less  than  two 
weeks  from  the  day  of  his  return  was  ready  to  depart 
for  the  unknown  river  that  was  to  lead  to  the  North- 
west Passage. 

The  weather  was  dazzlingly  clear,  with  that  burnished 
brightness  of  polished  steel  known  only  where  unbroken 
sunlight  meets  unbroken  snow  glare.  On  the  yth  of 
December,  1770,  Hearne  left  the  fort,  led  by  Matonab- 
bee and  followed  by  the  slave  Indians  with  the  dog 
sleighs.  One  of  Matonabbee's  wives  lay  ill  ;  but  that 
did  not  hinder  the  iron  pathfinder.  The  woman  was 
wrapped  in  robes  and  drawn  on  a  dog  sleigh.  There 
was  neither  pause  nor  hesitation.  If  the  woman  re- 
covered, good.  If  she  died,  they  would  bury  her 
under  a  cairn  of  stones  as  they  travelled.  Matonabbee 
struck  directly  west-northwest  for  some  caches  of  pro- 
visions which  he  had  left  hidden  on  the  trail.  The 
place  was  found  ;  but  the  caches  had  been  rifled  clean 
s 


258     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

of  food.  That  did  not  stop  Matonabbee.  Nor  did 
he  show  the  sHghtest  symptoms  of  anger.  He  simply 
hastened  their  pace  the  more  for  their  hunger,  recog- 
nizing the  unwritten  law  of  the  wilderness  —  that  starv- 
ing hunters  who  had  rifled  the  cache  had  a  right  to  food 
wherever  they  found  it.  Day  after  day,  stoical  as  men 
of  bronze,  the  marchers  reeled  off  the  long  white  miles 
over  the  snowy  wastes,  pausing  only  for  night  sleep 
with  evening  and  morning  meals.  Here  nibbled  twigs 
were  found  ;  there  the  stamping  ground  of  a  deer  shel- 
ter ;  elsewhere  the  small,  cleft  foot-mark  like  the  ace 
of  hearts.  But  the  signs  were  all  old.  No  deer  were 
seen.  Even  the  black  marble  eye  that  betrays  the 
white  hare  on  the  snow,  and  the  flufiy  bird  track  of 
the  feather-footed  northern  grouse,  grew  rarer ;  and 
the  slave  women  came  in  every  morning  empty-handed 
from  untouched  snares.  In  spite  of  hunger  and  cold, 
Matonabbee  remained  good-natured,  imperturbable, 
hard  as  a  man  of  bronze,  coursing  with  the  winged  speed 
of  snow-shoes  from  morning  till  night  without  pause, 
going  to  a  bed  of  rock  moss  on  a  meal  of  snow  water 
and  rising  eager  as  an  arrow  to  leave  the  bow-string  for 
the  next  day's  march.  For  three  days  before  Christmas 
the  entire  company  had  no  food  but  snow.  Christmas 
was  celebrated  by  starvation.  Hearne  could  not  in- 
dulge in  the  despair  of  the  civilized  man's  self-pity 
when  his  faithful  guides  went  on  without  complaint. 


Eskimo  Family,  taken  by  Light  of  Midnight  Sun.— C.  W.  Mathers. 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  259 

By  January  the  company  had  entered  the  Barren 
Lands.  The  Barren  Lands  were  bare  but  for  an  oc- 
casional oasis  of  trees  like  an  island  of  refuge  in  a 
shelterless  sea.  In  the  clumps  of  dwarf  shrubs,  the 
Indians  found  signs  that  meant  relief  from  famine  — 
tufts  of  hair  rubbed  off  on  tree  trunks,  fallen  antlers, 
and  countless  heart-shaped  tracks  barely  puncturing 
the  snow  but  for  the  sharp  outer  edge.  The  caribou 
were  on  their  yearly  traverse  east  to  west  for  the  shel- 
ter of  the  inland  woods.  The  Indians  at  once  pitched 
camp.  Scouts  went  scouring  to  find  which  way  the 
caribou  herds  were  coming.  Pounds  of  snares  were 
constructed  of  shrubs  and  saplings  stuck  up  in  pali- 
sades with  scarecrows  on  the  pickets  round  a  V-shaped 
enclosure.  The  best  hunters  took  their  station  at  the 
angle  of  the  V,  armed  with  loaded  muskets  and  long, 
lank,  and  iron-pointed  arrows.  Women  and  children 
lined  the  palisades  to  scare  back  high  jumpers  or  strays 
of  the  caribou  herd.  Then  scouts  and  dogs  beat  up  the 
rear  of  the  fleeing  herd,  driving  the  caribou  straight  for 
the  pound.  By  a  curious  provision  of  nature,  the  male 
caribou  sheds  its  antlers  just  as  he  leaves  the  Barren 
Lands  for  the  wooded  interior,  where  the  horns  would 
impede  flight  through  brush,  and  he  only  leaves  the 
woods  for  the  bare  open  when  the  horns  are  grown 
enough  to  fight  the  annual  battle  to  protect  the  herd 
from    the    wolf  pack    ravenous    with    spring    hunger. 


26o     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

For  one  caribou  caught  in  the  pound  by  Hearne's 
Indians,  a  hundred  of  the  herd  escaped;  for  the  cari- 
bou crossed  the  Barrens  in  tens  of  thousands,  and 
Matonabbee's  braves  obtained  enough  venison  for  the 
trip  to  the  "  Far-Off- Metal  River." 

The  farther  north  they  travelled  the  scanter  became 
the  growth  of  pine  and  poplar  and  willow.  Snow  still 
lay  heavy  in  April ;  but  Matonabbee  ordered  a  halt 
while  there  was  still  large  enough  wood  to  construct 
dugouts  to  carry  provisions  down  the  river.  The 
boats  were  built  large  and  heavy  in  front,  light  behind. 
This  was  to  resist  the  ice  jam  of  Northern  currents. 
The  caribou  hunt  had  brought  other  Indians  to  the 
Barren  Lands.  Matonabbee  was  joined  by  two  hundred 
warriors.  Though  the  tribes  puffed  the  calumet  of 
peace  together,  they  drew  their  war  hatchets  when  they 
saw  the  smoke  of  an  alien  tribe's  fire  rise  against  the 
northern  sky.  A  suspicion  that  he  hardly  dared  to 
acknowledge  flashed  through  Hearne's  mind.  Eleven 
thousand  beaver  pelts  were  yearly  brought  down  to  the 
fort  from  the  unknown  river.  How  did  the  Chipe- 
wyans  obtain  these  pelts  from  the  Eskimo  ?  What  was 
the  real  reason  of  the  Indian  eagerness  to  conduct 
the  white  man  to  the  "  Far-Off-Metal  River  "  ?  The 
white  man  was  not  taken  into  the  confidence  of  the 
Indian  council;  but  he  could  not  fail  to  draw  his  own 
conclusions. 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  261 

Scouts  were  sent  cautiously  forward  to  trail  the  path 
of  the  aliens  who  had  lighted  the  far  moss  fire.  Women 
and  children  were  ordered  to  head  about  for  a  rendez- 
vous southwest  on  Lake  Athabasca.  Carrying  only 
the  lightest  supplies,  the  braves  set  out  swiftly  for  the 
North  on  June  i.  Mist  and  rain  hung  so  heavily 
over  the  desolate  moors  that  the  travellers  could  not 
see  twenty  feet  ahead.  In  places  the  rocks  were 
glazed  with  ice  and  scored  with  runnels  of  water. 
Half  the  warriors  here  lost  heart  and  turned  back. 
The  others  led  by  Hearne  and  Matonabbee  crossed 
the  iced  precipices  on  hands  and  knees,  with  gun 
stocks  strapped  to  backs  or  held  in  teeth.  On  the 
2 1  St  of  June  the  sun  did  not  set.  Hearne  had  crossed 
the  Arctic  Circle.  The  sun  hung  on  the  southern  hori- 
zon all  night  long.  Henceforth  the  travellers  marched 
without  tents.  During  rain  or  snow  storm,  they  took 
refuge  under  rocks  or  in  caves.  Provisions  turned 
mouldy  with  wet.  The  moss  was  too  soaked  for  fire. 
Snow  fell  so  heavily  in  drifting  storms  that  Hearne 
often  awakened  in  the  morning  to  find  himself  almost 
immured  in  the  cave  where  they  had  sought  shelter. 
Ice  lay  solid  on  the  lakes  in  July.  Once,  clambering 
up  steep,  bare  heights,  the  travellers  met  a  herd  of  a 
hundred  musk-oxen  scrambling  over  the  rocks  with 
the  agility  of  squirrels,  the  spreading,  agile  hoof  giving 
grip  that  lifted  the  hulking  forms  over  all   obstacles. 


262     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

Down  the  bleak,  bare  heights  there  poured  cataract  and 
mountain  torrent,  plainly  leading  to  some  near  river 
bed ;  but  the  thick  gray  fog  lay  on  the  land  like  a 
blanket.  At  last  a  thunder-storm  cleared  the  air  ;  and 
Hearne  saw  bleak  moors  sloping  north,  bare  of  all 
growth  but  the  trunks  of  burnt  trees,  with  barren 
heights  of  rock  and  vast,  desolate  swamps,  where  the 
wild-fowl  flocked  in  myriads. 


Fort  Garry,  Winnipeg,  a  Century  Ago. 

All  count  of  day  and  night  was  now  lost,  for  the 
sun  did  not  set.  Sometime  between  midnight  and 
morning  of  July  12,  1771,  with  the  sun  as  bright 
as  noon,  the  lakds  converged  to  a  single  river-bed  a 
hundred  yards  wide,  narrowing  to  a  waterfall  that 
roared  over  the  rocks  in  three  cataracts.  This,  then, 
was  the  "  Far-Off- Metal  River."  Plainly,  it  was  a  dis- 
appointing discovery,  this  Coppermine  River.  It  did 
not  lead  to   China.      It  did   not  point   the  way   to  a 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  263 

Northwest  Passage.  In  his  disappohitment,  Hearne 
learned  what  every  other  discoverer  in  North  America 
had  learned  —  that  the  Great  Northwest  was  some- 
thing more  than  a  bridge  between  Europe  and  Asia, 
that  it  was  a  world  in  itself  with  its  own  destiny.^ 

But  Hearne  had  no  time  to  brood  over  disappoint- 
ment. The  conduct  of  his  rascally  companions  could 
no  longer  be  misunderstood.  Hunters  came  in  with 
game  ;  but  when  the  hungry  slaves  would  have  lighted 
a  moss  fire  to  cook  the  meat,  the  forbidding  hand  of  a 
chief  went  up.  No  fires  were  to  be  lighted.  The 
Indians  advanced  with  whispers,  dodging  from  stone 
to  stone  like  raiders  in  ambush.  Spies  went  forward 
on  tiptoe.  Then  far  down-stream  below  the  cataracts 
Hearne  descried  the  domed  tent-tops  of  an  Eskimo 
band  sound  asleep  ;  for  it  was  midnight,  though  the 
sun  was  at  high  noon.  When  Hearne  looked  back  to 
his  companions,  he  found  himself  deserted.  The 
Indians  were  already  wading  the  river  for  the  west  bank, 
where  the  Eskimo  had  camped.  Hearne  overtook  his 
guides  stripping  themselves  of  everything  that  might 
impede  flight  or  give  hand-hold  to  an  enemy,  and 
daubing  their  skin  with  war-paint.  Hearne  begged 
Matonabbee  to  restrain  the  murderous  warriors.  The 
great  chief  smiled  with  silent  contempt.      He  was  too 

^  I  have  purposely  avoided  bringing  up  the  dispute  as  to  a  mistake  of  some  few 
degrees  made  by  Hearne  in  his  calculations  —  the  point  really  being  finical. 


264     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

true  a  disciple  of  a  doctrine  which  Indians  practised 
hundreds  of  years  before  white  men  had  avowed  it  — 
the  survival  of  the  fit,  the  extermination  of  the  weak, 
for  any  qualms  of  pity  towards  a  victim  whose  death 
would  contribute  profit.  Wearing  only  moccasins  and 
bucklers  of  hardened  hide,  armed  with  muskets,  lances, 
and  tomahawks,  the  Indians  jostled  Hearne  out  of  their 
way,  stole  forward  from  stone  to  stone  to  within  a  gun 
length  of  the  Eskimo,  then  with  a  wild  war  shout  flung 
themselves  on  the  unsuspecting  sleepers. 

The  Eskimo  were  taken  unprepared.  They  stag- 
gered from  their  tents,  still  dazed  in  sleep,  to  be  mowed 
down  by  a  crashing  of  firearms  which  they  had  never 
before  heard.  The  poor  creatures  fled  in  frantic  terror, 
to  be  met  only  by  lance  point  and  gun  butt.  A  young 
girl  fell  coiling  at  Hearne's  feet  like  a  wounded  snake. 
A  well-aimed  lance  had  pinioned  the  living  form  to 
earth.  She  caught  Hearne  round  the  knees,  imploring 
him  with  dumb  entreaty ;  but  the  white  man  was 
pushed  back  with  jeers.  Sobbing  with  horror,  Hearne 
begged  the  Indians  to  put  their  victim  out  of  pain. 
The  rocks  rang  with  the  mockery  of  the  torturers. 
She  was  speared  to  death  before  Hearne's  eyes.  On 
that  scene  of  indescribable  horror  the  white  man  could 
no  longer  bear  to  look.  He  turned  toward  the 
river,  and  there  was  a  spectacle  like  a  nightmare. 
Some  of   the   Eskimo    were    escaping    by    leaping    to 


SAMUEL   HEARNE  265 

their  hide  boats  and  with  lightning  strokes  of  the  double- 
bladed  paddles  dashing  down  the  current  to  the  far  bank 
of  the  river  ;  but  sitting  motionless  as  stone  was  an 
old,  old  woman — probably  a  witch  of  the  tribe  — 
red-eyed  as  if  she  were  blind,  deaf  to  all  the  noise 
about  her,  unconscious  of  all  her  danger,  fishing  for 
salmon  below  the  falls.  There  was  a  shout  from  the 
raiders ;  the  old  woman  did  not  even  look  up  to 
face  her  fate ;  and  she  too  fell  a  victim  to  that  thirst 
for  blood  which  is  as  insatiable  in  the  redskin  as  in  the 
wolf  pack.  Odd  commentary  in  our  modern  philoso- 
phies—  this  white-man  explorer,  unnerved,  unmanned, 
weeping  with  pity,  this  champion  of  the  weak,  jostled 
aside  by  bloodthirsty,  triumphant  savages,  represented 
the  race  that  was  to  jostle  the  Indian  from  the  face  of 
the  New  World.  Something  more  than  a  triumphant, 
aggressive  Strength  was  needed  to  the  permanency  of 
a  race ;  and  that  something  more  was  represented  by 
poor,  weak,  vacillating  Hearne,  weeping  like  a  woman. 
Horror  of  the  massacre  robbed  Hearne  of  all  an 
explorer's  exultation.  A  day  afterward,  on  July  17, 
he  stood  on  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  — 
the  first  white  man  to  reach  it  overland  in  America. 
Ice  extended  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  as  far  as  eye 
could  see.  Not  a  sign  of  land  broke  the  endless 
reaches  of  cold  steel,  where  the  snow  lay,  and  icy 
green,  where  pools  of  the  ocean  cast  their  reflection  on 


266      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


the  sky  of  the  far  horizon.  At  one  in  the  morning, 
with  the  sun  hanging  above  the  river  to  the  south, 
Hearne  formally    took   possession   of  the    Arctic   re- 


-Ti.O0€&).  ,,         J    . 

Fbjnce  of  WALES'S  Fort  ^.^/^ 


T/if  Oti<p{nal P/ans Ram/uirtwm  42!^^. Init  t/te  Got.  i\'as 
Jure  tiuTtQs  Ihci  tymild  do  very  weU,  Twaf  onier'd  Hiei'efoit  tx>  lay 
tfiel^cnindation  ^sJ'ie&t/nck  awHl.K.1f7ii'n  t/ie  Ckjtrwn  it^as  tiy'it 
th^^rofj  (yft/iflVaU ^foltwa^ /luU'ddown  f^Jiuiltwi  aeC4>rTttn^ to 

tfu /itvt-T/aft^X.and Ts.n(rirdorie yet    

Scale  114  feet  in  one  Inci 


From  Robson's  Drawing,  1733-47. 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  267 

gions  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  same 
Company  rules  those  regions  to-day.  Not  an  eye  had 
been  closed  for  three  days  and  nights.  Throwing 
themselves  down  on  the  wet  shore,  the  entire  band 
now  slept  for  six  hours.  The  hunters  awakened  to 
find  a  musk-ox  nosing  over  the  mossed  rocks.  A 
shot  sent  it  tumbling  over  the  cliffs.  Whether  it  was 
that  the  moss  was  too  wet  for  fuel  to  cook  the  meat, 
or  the  massacre  had  brutalized  the  men  into  beasts  of 
prey,  the  Indians  fell  on  the  carcass  and  devoured  it 
raw.^ 

The  retreat  from  the  Arctic  was  made  with  all 
swiftness,  keeping  close  to  the  Coppermine  River. 
For  thirty  miles  from  the  sea  not  a  tree  was  to  be 
seen.  The  river  was  sinuous  and  narrow,  hemmed  in 
by  walls  of  solid  rock,  down  which  streamed  cascades 
and  mountain  torrents.  On  both  sides  of  the  high 
bank  extended  endless  reaches  of  swamps  and  barrens. 
Twenty  miles  from  the  sea  Hearne  found  the  copper 
mines  from  which  the  Indians  made  their  weapons. 
His  guides  were  to  join  their  families  in  the  Athabasca 
country  of  the  southwest,  and  thither  Matonabbee  now 

1  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  in  pioneer  border  warfares  I  have  heard  of  white  men  acting 
in  a  precisely  similar  beastly  manner  after  some  brutal  conflict.  To  be  frank,  I  know 
of  one  case  in  the  early  days  of  Minnesota  fijr  trade,  where  the  irate  fur  trader  killed 
and  devoured  his  weak  companion,  not  from  famine,  but  sheer  frenzy  of  brutalized 
passion.  Such  naked  light  does  wilderness  life  shed  over  our  drawing-room  philosophies 
of  the  triumphantly  strong  being  the  highest  type  of  manhood. 


268      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

led  the  way  at  such  a  terrible  pace  that  moccasins  were 
worn  to  shreds  and  toe-nails  torn  from  the  feet  of  the 
marchers  ;  and  woe  to  the  man  who  fell  behind,  for 
the   wolf  pack  prowled  on   the  rear. 

When  the  smoke  of  moss  fires  told  of  the  wives' 
camp,  the  Indians  halted  to  take  the  sweat  bath  of 
purification  for  the  cleansing  of  all  blood  guilt  from 
the  massacre.  Heated  stones  were  thrown  into  a 
small  pool.  In  this  each  Indian  bathed  himself, 
invoking  his  deity  for  freedom  from  all  punishment 
for  the  deaths  of  the  slain. ^  By  August  the  Indians 
had  joined  their  wives.  By  October  they  were  on 
Lake  Athabasca,  which  had  already  frozen.  Here 
one  of  the  wives,  in  the  last  stages  of  consumption, 
could  go  no  farther.  For  a  band  short  of  food  to 
halt  on  the  march  meant  death  to  all.  The  Northern 
wilderness  has  its  grim  unwritten  law,  inexorable  and 
merciless  as  death.  For  those  who  fall  by  the  way  there 
is  no  pity.  A  whole  tribe  may  not  be  exposed  to  death 
for  the  sake  of  one  person.  Civilized  nations  follow 
the  same  principle  in  their  quarantine.  Giving  the 
squaw  food  and  a  tent,  the  Indians  left  her  to  meet 
her  last  enemy,  whether  death  came  by  starvation  or 
cold  or  the  wolf  pack.     Again  and  again  the  abandoned 

^  Again  the  wilderness  plunges  us  back  to  the  primordial  :  if  man  be  but  the  supreme 
beast  of  prey,  whence  this  consciousness  of  blood  guilt  in  these  unschooled  children  ot 
the  wilds  ? 


SAMUEL    HEARNE  269 

squaw  came  up  with  the  marchers,  weeping  and  beg- 
q;ing  their  pity,  only  to  fall  from  weakness.  But  the 
wilderness  has  no  pity  ;  and  so  they  left  her. 

Christmas  of  1771  was  passed  on  Athabasca  Lake, 
the  northern  lights  rustling  overhead  with  the  crackling 
of  a  flag.  There  was  food  in  plenty  ;  for  the  Atha- 
basca was  rich  in  buffalo  meadows  and  beaver  dams 
and  moose  yards.  On  the  lake  shore  Hearne  found 
a  little  cabin,  in  which  dwelt  a  solitary  woman  of  the 
Dog  Rib  tribe  who  for  eight  months  had  not  seen  a 
soul.  Her  band  had  been  massacred.  She  alone 
escaped  and  had  lived  here  in  hiding  for  almost  a 
year.  In  spring  the  Indians  of  the  lake  carried  their 
furs  to  the  forts  of  Hudson  Bay.  With  the  Athabas- 
cans went  Hearne,  reaching  Fort  Prince  of  Wales  on 
June  30,  1772,  after  eighteen  months'  absence. 

He  had  discovered  Coppermine  River,  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  and  the  Athabasca  country,  —  a  region  in  all 
as  large  as  half  European   Russia. 

For  his  achievements  Hearne  received  prompt  pro- 
motion. Within  a  year  of  his  return  to  the  fort. 
Governor  Norton,  the  Indian  bully,  fell  deadly  ill. 
In  the  agony  of  death  throes,  he  called  for  his  wives. 
The  great  keys  to  the  apartments  of  the  women  were 
taken  from  his  pillow,  and  the  wives  were  brought  in. 
Norton  lay  convulsed  with  pain.  One  of  the  younger 
women  began  to  sob.     An  officer  of  the  garrison  took 


270 


PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


her  hand  to  comfort  her  grief.  Norton's  rolHng  eyes 
caught  sight  of  the  innocent  conference  between  the 
officer  and  the  young  wife.  With  a  roar  the  dying 
bully  hurled  himself  up  in   bed  :  — 

"  I'll    burn    you    alive  !      I'll    burn    you    alive,"  he 
shrieked.     With  oaths  on  his  lips  he  fell   back  dead. 


Fort  Prince  of  Wales  (Churchill),  from  Hearne's  Account,  1799  Edition. 


Samuel  Hearne  became  governor  of  the  fort.  For 
ten  years  nothing  disturbed  the  calm  of  his  rule. 
Marie,  Norton's  daughter,  still  lived  in  the  shelter  of 
the  fort;  the  wives  found  consolation  in  other  hus- 
bands; and  Matonabbee  continued  the  ambassador  of 
the  company  to  strange  tribes.  One  afternoon  of 
August,  1782,  the  sleepy  calm  of  the  fort  was  upset  by 


SAMUEL    HEARNE 


271 


the  sentry  dashing  in  breathlessly  with  news  that  three 
great  vessels  of  war  with  full-blown  sails  and  carrying 
many  guns  were  ploughing  straight  for  Prince  of 
Wales.  At  sundown  the  ships  swung  at  anchor  six 
miles  from  the  fort.  From  their  masts  fluttered  a 
foreign  flag  —  the  French  ensign.  Gig  boat  and  pin- 
nace began  sounding  the  harbor.  Hearne  had  less 
than  forty  men  to  defend  the  fort.  In  the  morning 
four  hundred   French  troopers  lined  up  on  Churchill 


Beaver  Coin  of  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  melted  from 
Old  Tea  Chests,  one  Coin  representing  one  Beaver. 

River,  and  the  admiral,  La  Perouse,  sent  a  messenger 
with  demand  of  surrender.  Hearne  did  not  feel  justi- 
fied in  exposing  his  men  to  the  attack  of  three  war- 
ships carrying  from  seventy  to  a  hundred  guns  apiece, 
and  to  assault  by  land  of  four  hundred  troopers.  He 
surrendered  without  a  blow. 

The  furs  were  quickly  transferred  to  the  French 
ships,  and  the  soldiers  were  turned  loose  to  loot  the 
fort.  The  Indians  fled,  among  them  Moses  Norton's 
gentle  daughter,  now  in  her  twenty-second  year.     She 


272     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

could  not  revert  to  the  loathsome  habits  of  savage 
life ;  she  dared  not  go  to  the  fort  filled  with  lawless 
foreign  soldiers  ;  and  she  perished  of  starvation  out- 
side the  walls.  Matonabbee  had  been  absent  when  the 
French  came.  He  returned  to  find  the  fort  where  he 
had  spent  his  life  in  ruins.  The  English  whom  he 
thought  invincible  were  defeated  and  prisoners  of  war. 
Hearne,  whom  the  dauntless  old  chief  had  led  through 
untold  perils,  was  a  captive.  Matonabbee's  proud 
spirit  was  broken.  The  grief  was  greater  than  he 
could  bear.  All  that  living  stood  for  had  been  lost. 
Drawing  off  from  observation,  Matonabbee  blew  his 
brains  out. 


PART    IV 

1780-1793 

FIRST  ACROSS  THE  ROCKIES  — HOW  MACKENZIE 
CROSSED  THE  NORTHERN  ROCKIES  AND  LEWIS 
AND  CLARK  WERE  FIRST  TO  CROSS  FROM  MIS- 
SOURI  TO    COLUMBIA 


CHAPTER  X 

1780-1793 

FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES 

How  Mackenzie  found  the  Great  River  named  after  him  and  then 
pushed  across  the  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  forever  settling  the 
question  of  a  Northwest  Passage 

There  is  an  old  saying  that  if  a  man  has  the  right 
mettle  in  him,  you  may  stick  him  a  thousand  leagues 
in  the  wilderness  on  a  barren  rock  and  he  will  plant 
pennies  and  grow  dollar  bills.  In  other  words,  no 
matter  where  or  how,  success  will  succeed.  No  class 
illustrates  this  better  than  a  type  that  has  almost 
passed  away  —  the  old  fur  traders  who  were  lords  of 
the  wilderness.  Cut  off  from  all  comfort,  from  all 
encouragement,  from  all  restraint,  what  set  of  men 
ever  had  fewer  incentives  to  go  up,  more  temptations 
to  go  down  ?  Yet  from  the  fur  traders  sprang  the  pio- 
neer heroes  of  America.  When  young  Donald  Smith 
came  out  —  a  raw  lad  — to  America,  he  was  packed  off 
to  eighteen  years'  exile  on  the  desert  coast  of  Labrador. 
Donald  Smith  came  out  of  the  wilderness  to  become 

27s 


276     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 


the  Lord  Strathcona  of  to-day.  Sir  Alexander  Mac- 
kenzie's life  presents  even  more  dramatic  contrasts. 
A  clerk  in  a  counting-house  at  Montreal  one  year, 
the  next  finds  him  at  Detroit  setting  out  for  the  back- 
woods of  Michigan  to   barter   with   Indians  for  furs. 

Then  he  is  off  with  a  fleet 
of  canoes  forty  strong  for 
the  Upper  Country  of  forest 
and  wilderness  beyond  the 
Great  Lakes,  where  he 
fights  such  a  desperate 
battle  with  rivals  that  one 
of  his  companions  is  mur- 
dered, a  second  lamed,  a 
third  wounded.  In  all  this 
Alexander  Mackenzie  was 
successful  while  still  in  the 
prime   of  his  manhood, — 

Alexander  Mackenzie,  from  a  Paint-     not  more    than    thirty    years 
ing  of  the  Explorer.  ^  ,      ,  ^      r 

or  age  ;  and  the  reward  or 
his  success  was  to  be  exiled  to  the  sub-arctics  of  the 
Athabasca,  six  weeks'  travel  from  another  fur  post, — 
not  a  likely  field  to  play  the  hero.  Yet  Mackenzie 
emerged  from  the  polar  wilderness  bearing  a  name 
that  ranks  with  Columbus  and  Cartier  and  La  Salle. 
Far  north  of  the  Missouri  beyond  the  borderlands 
flows  the  Saskatchewan.     As  far  north  again,  beyond 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES      277 

the  Saskatchewan,  flows  another  great  river,  the  Atha- 
basca, into  Athabasca  Lake,  on  whose  blue  shores 
to  the  north  lies  a  little  white-washed  fort  of  some 
twenty  log  houses,  large  barn-like  stores,  a  Catholic 
chapel,  an  Episcopal  mission,  and  a  biggish  residence  of 
pretence  for  the  chief  trader.  This  is  Fort  Chipewyan. 
At  certain  seasons  Indian  tepees  dot  the  surrounding 
plains;  and  bronze-faced  savages,  clad  in  the  ill-fitting 
garments  of  white  people,  shamble  about  the  stores, 
or  sit  haunched  round  the  shady  sides  of  the  log 
houses,  smoking  long-stemmed  pipes.  These  are  the 
Chipewyans  come  in  from  their  hunting-grounds  ;  but 
for  the  most  part  the  fort  seems  chiefly  populated  by 
regiments  of  husky  dogs,  shaggy-coated,  with  the  sharp 
nose  of  the  fox,  which  spend  the  long  winters  in  harness 
coasting  the  white  wilderness,  and  pass  the  summers 
basking  lazily  all  day  long  except  when  the  bell  rings 
for  fish  time,  when  half  a  hundred  huskies  scramble 
wildly  for   the  first  meat  thrown. 

A  century  ago  Chipewyan  was  much  the  same  as 
to-day,  except  that  it  lay  on  the  south  side  of  the  lake. 
Mails  came  only  once  in  two  years  instead  of  monthly, 
and  rival  traders  were  engaged  in  the  merry  game  of 
slitting  each  other's  throats.  All  together,  it  wasn't 
exactly  the  place  for  ambition  to  dream  ;  but  ambition 
was  there  in  the  person  of  Alexander  Mackenzie,  the 
young  fur  trader,  dreaming  what  he  hardly  dared  hope. 


ayS      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

Business  men  fight  shy  of  dreamers  ;  so  Mackenzie 
told  his  dreams  to  no  one  but  his  cousin  Roderick, 
whom    he    pledged    to    secrecy.      For  fifty    years    the 


Eskimo  trading  his  Pipe,   carved  from  Walrus  Tusk,   for  the  Value  of 
Three  Beaver  Skins. 

British  government  had  offered  a  reward  of  ^20,000 
to  any  one  who  should  discover  a  Northwest  Passage 
between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific.  The  hope  of 
such   a  passageway  had  led  many  navigators  on   boot- 


FIRST   ACROSS    THE    ROCKIES      279 

less  voyages  ;  and  here  was  Mackenzie  with  the  same 
bee  in  his  bonnet.  To  the  north  of  Chipewyan  he 
saw  a  mighty  river,  more  than  a  mile  wide  in  places, 
walled  in  by  great  ramparts,  and  flowing  to  unknown 
seas.  To  the  west  he  saw  another  river  rolling 
through  the  far  mountains.  Where  did  this  river 
come  from,  and  where  did  both  rivers  go?  Macken- 
zie was  not  the  man  to  leave  vital  questions  un- 
answered. He  determined  to  find  out;  but  difficulties 
lay  in  the  way.  He  couldn't  leave  the  Athabascan 
posts.  That  was  overcome  by  getting  his  cousin 
Roderick  to  take  charge.  The  Northwest  Fur  Com- 
pany, which  had  succeeded  the  French  fur  traders  of 
Quebec  and  Montreal  when  Canada  passed  from  the 
hands  of  the  French  to  the  English,  wouldn't  assume 
any  cost  or  risk  for  exploring  unknown  seas.  This 
was  more  niggardly  than  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
which  had  paid  all  cost  of  outlay  for  its  explorers  ;  but 
Mackenzie  assumed  risk  and  cost  himself.  Then  the 
Indians  hesitated  to  act  as  guides;  so  Mackenzie  hired 
guides  when  he  could,  seized  them  by  compulsion 
when  he  couldn't  hire  them,  and  went  ahead  without 
guides  when  they  escaped. 

May  —  the  frog  moon  —  and  June  —  the  bird's  egg 
moon  —  were  the  festive  seasons  at  Fort  Chipewyan 
on  Lake  Athabasca.  Indian  hunters  came  tramping 
in  from  the  Barren  Lands  with  toboggan  loads  of  pelts 


28o     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

drawn  by  half-wild  husky  dogs.  Woody  Crees  and 
Slaves  and  Chipewyans  paddled  across  the  lake  in  canoes 
laden  to  the  gunwales  with  furs.  A  world  of  white 
skin  tepees  sprang  up  like  mushrooms  round  the 
fur  post.  By  June  the  traders  had  collected  the  furs, 
sorted  and  shipped  them  in  flotillas  of  keel  boat,  barge, 
and  canoe,  east  to  Lake  Superior  and  Montreal.  On 
the  evening  of  June  2,  1789,  Alexander  Mackenzie, 
chief  trader,  had  finished  the  year's  trade  and  sent  the 
furs  to  the  Eastern  warehouses  of  the  Northwest 
Company,  on  Lake  Superior,  at  Fort  William,  not 
far  from  where  Radisson  had  first  explored,  and  La 
Verendrye  followed.  Indians  lingered  round  the  fort 
of  the  Northern  lake  engaged  in  mad  boissons^  or 
drinking  matches,  that  used  up  a  winter's  earnings 
in  the  spree  of  a  single  week.  Along  the  shore  lay 
upturned  canoes,  keels  red  against  the  blue  of  the  lake, 
and  everywhere  in  the  dark  burned  the  red  fires  of 
the  boatmen  melting  resin  to  gum  the  seams  of  the 
canoes ;  for  the  canoes  were  to  be  launched  on  a 
long  voyage  the  next  day.  Mackenzie  was  going  to 
float  down  with  the  current  of  the  Athabasca  or 
Grand  River,  and  find  out  where  that  great  river 
emptied   in    the    North. 

The  crew  must  have  spent  the  night  in  a  last  wild 
spree;  for  it  was  nine  in  the  morning  before  all  hands 
were  ready   to  embark.      In   Mackenzie's   large  birch 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES      281 


canoe    went    four    Canadian    voyageurs^    their    Indian 

wives,  and    a    German.       In    other    canoes    were    the 

Indian    hunters    and    interpreters,    led    by    "  English 

Chief,"   who  had  often  been  to   Hudson   Bay.     Few 

provisions  were  taken.     The  men  were  to  hunt,  the 

women  to  cook  and  keep  the  voyageurs  supplied  with 

moccasins,    which     wore 

out  at    the   rate   of  one 

pair  a  day  for  each  man. 

Traders  bound  for  Slave 

Lake    followed    behind. 

Only    fifty    miles    were 

made    the    first    day. 

Henceforth     Mackenzie 

embarked     his     men     at 

three    and    four    in    the 

morning. 

The  mouth   of  Peace 
River  was  passed  a  mile 


broad    as    it    pours    down     Quill  and  Bead  Work  on  Buckskin, 
r  .1  .  J     -_i  Mackenzie  River  Indians. 

rrom   the   west,  and   the 

boatmen  portaged  six  rapids  the  third  day,  one  of  the 
canoes,  steered  by  a  squaw  more  intent  on  her  sewing 
than  the  paddles,  going  over  the  falls  with  a  smash  that 
shivered  the  bark  to  kindling-wood.  The  woman 
escaped,  as  the  current  caught  the  canoe,  by  leaping 
into  the  water  and  swimming  ashore  with  the  aid  of  a 


282      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

line.  Ice  four  feet  thick  clung  to  the  walls  of  the 
rampart  shores,  and  this  increased  the  danger  of  landing 
for  2i  port  age  y  the  Indians  whining  out  their  complaints 
in  exactly  the  tone  of  the  wailing  north  wind  that  had 
cradled  their  lives  —  "  Eduiy,  eduiy  !  —  It  is  hard,  white 
man,  it  is  hard  !  "  And  harder  the  way  became.  For 
nine  nights  fog  lay  so  heavily  on  the  river  that  not  a  star 
was  seen.  This  was  followed  by  driving  rain  and  wind. 
Mackenzie  hoisted  a  three-foot  sail  and  cut  over  the 
water  before  the  wind  with  the  hiss  of  a  boiling  kettle. 
Though  the  sail  did  the  work  of  the  paddles,  it  gave 
the  voyageurs  no  respite.  Cramped  and  rain-soaked, 
they  had  to  bail  out  water  to  keep  the  canoe  afloat. 
In  this  fashion  the  boats  entered  Slave  Lake,  a  large 
body  of  water  with  one  horn  pointing  west,  the  other 
east.  Out  of  both  horns  led  unknown  rivers.  Which 
way  should  Mackenzie  go  ?  Low-lying  marshlands 
—  beaver  meadows  where  the  wattled  houses  of  the 
beaver  had  stopped  up  the  current  of  streams  till  moss 
overgrew  the  swamps  and  the  land  became  quaking 
muskeg  —  lay  along  the  shores  of  the  lake.  There 
were  islands  in  deep  water,  where  caribou  had  taken 
refuge,  travelling  over  ice  in  winter  for  the  calves  to 
be  safe  in  summer  from  wolf  pack  and  bear.  Macken- 
zie hired  a  guide  from  the  Slave  Indians  to  pilot  the 
canoes  over  the  lake;  but  the  man  proved  useless. 
Days   were   wasted   poking    through    mist   and    rushes 


FIRST   ACROSS    THE    ROCKIES       283 

trying  to  find  an  outlet  to  the  Grand  River  of  the 
North.  Finally,  English  Chief  lost  his  temper  and 
threatened  to  kill  the  Slave  Indian  unless  he  succeeded 
in  taking  the  canoes  out  of  the  lake.  The  waters 
presently  narrowed  to  half  a  mile  ;  the  current  began 
to  race  with  a  hiss  ;  sails  were  hoisted  on  fishing- 
poles  ;     and    Mackenzie    found    himself    out    of    the 


Fort  William,  Headquarters  Northwest  Coirv^^i.y,  L^.._   __^j;ior. 

rushes    on    the    Grand    River    to    the    west    of  Slave 
Lake. 

Here  pause  was  made  at  a  camp  of  Dog  Ribs,  who 
took  the  bottom  from  the  courage  of  Mackenzie's 
comrades  by  gruesome  predictions  that  old  age  would 
come  upon  the  voyageurs  before  they  reached  salt 
water.  There  were  impassable  falls  ahead.  The 
river  flowed  through   a  land  of  famine  peopled  by  a 


284     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

monstrous  race  of  hostiles  who  massacred  all  Indians 
from  the  South.  The  effect  of  these  cheerful  prophe- 
cies was  that  the  Slave  Lake  guide  refused  to  go  on. 
English  Chief  bodily  put  the  recalcitrant  into  a  canoe 
and  forced  him  ahead  at  the  end  of  a  paddle.  Snow- 
capped mountains  loomed  to  the  west.  The  river 
from  Bear  Lake  was  passed,  greenish  of  hue  like  the 
sea,  and  the  Slave  Lake  guide  now  feigned  such  ill- 
ness that  watch  was  kept  day  and  night  to  prevent  his 
escape.  The  river  now  began  to  wind,  with  lofty 
ramparts  on  each  side ;  and  once,  at  a  sharp  bend  in 
the  current,  Mackenzie  looked  back  to  see  Slave  Lake 
Indians  following  to  aid  the  guide  in  escaping.  After 
that  one  of  the  white  men  slept  with  the  fellow  each 
night  to  prevent  desertion  ;  but  during  the  confusion 
of  a  terrific  thunder-storm,  when  tents  and  cooking 
utensils  were  hurled  about  their  heads,  the  Slave 
succeeded  in  giving  his  watchers  the  slip.  Mackenzie 
promptly  stopped  at  an  encampment  of  strange 
Indians,  and  failing  to  obtain  another  guide  by  persua- 
sion, seized  and  hoisted  a  protesting  savage  into  the 
big  canoe,  and  signalled  the  unwilling  captive  to  point 
the  way.  The  Indians  of  the  river  were  indifferent,  if 
not  friendly  ;  but  once  Mackenzie  discovered  a  band 
hiding  their  women  and  children  as  soon  as  the  boat- 
men came  in  view.  The  unwilling  guide  was  forced 
ashore,  as  interpreter,  and  gifts   pacified  all  fear.      But 


FIRST    ACROSS    THE    ROCKIES       285 

the  incident  left  its  impression  on  Mackenzie's  com- 
rades. They  had  now  been  away  from  Chipewyan 
for  forty  days.  If  it  took  much  longer  to  go  back, 
ice  would  imprison  them  in  the  polar  wilderness. 
Snow  lay  drifted  in  the  valleys,  and  scarcely  any 
game  was  seen  but  fox  and  grouse.  The  river  was 
widening  almost  to  the  dimensions  of  a  lake,  and 
when  this  was  whipped  by  a  north  wind  the  canoes 
were  in  peril  enough.  The  four  Canadians  besought 
Mackenzie  to  return.  To  return  Mackenzie  had  not 
the  slightest  intention ;  but  he  would  not  tempt 
mutiny.  He  promised  that  if  he  did  not  find  the 
sea  within  seven  days,  he  would  go  back. 

That  night  the  sun  hung  so  high  above  the  south- 
ern horizon  that  the  men  rose  by  mistake  to  embark 
at  twelve  o'clock.  They  did  not  realize  that  they 
were  in  the  region  of  midnight  sun  ;  but  Mackenzie 
knew  and  rejoiced,  for  he  must  be  near  the  sea.  The 
next  day  he  was  not  surprised  to  find  a  deserted 
Eskimo  village.  At  that  sight  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  others  took  fire.  They  were  keen  to  reach  the 
sea,  and  imagined  that  they  smelt  salt  water.  In  spite 
of  the  lakelike  expanse  of  the  river,  the  current 
was  swift,  and  the  canoes  went  ahead  at  the  rate  of 
sixty  and  seventy  miles  a  day  —  if  it  could  be  called 
day  when  there  was  no  night.  Between  the  13th 
and    14th   of  July    the  voyageurs  suddenly  awakened 


286      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

to  find  themselves  and  their  baggage  floating  in  rising 
water.  What  had  happened  to  the  lake  ?  Their 
hearts  took  a  leap  ;  for  it  was  no  lake.  It  was  the 
tide.      They  had  found  the  sea. 

How  hilariously  jubilant  were  Mackenzie's  men, 
one  may  guess  from  the  fact  that  they  chased  whales 
all  the  next  day  in  their  canoes.  The  whales  dived 
below,  fortunately  ;  for  one  blow  of  a  finback  or  sulphur 
bottom  would  have  played  skittles  with  the  canoes. 
Coming  back  from  the  whale  hunt,  triumphant  as  if 
they  had  caught  a  dozen  finbacks,  the  men  erected  a 
post,  engraving  on  it  the  date,  July  14,  1789,  and  the 
names  of  all  present. 

It  had  taken  six  weeks  to  reach  the  Arctic.  It 
took  eight  to  return  to  Chipewyan,  for  the  course 
was  against  stream,  in  many  places  tracking  the  canoes 
by  a  tow-line.  The  beaver  meadows  along  the  shore 
impeded  the  march.  Many  a  time  the  quaking  moss 
gave  way,  and  the  men  sank  to  mid-waist  in  water. 
While  skirting  close  ashore,  Mackenzie  discovered 
the  banks  of  the  river  to  be  on  fire.  The  fire  was  a 
natural  tar  bed,  which  the  Indians  said  had  been  burn- 
ing for  centuries  and  which  burns  to-day  as  when 
Mackenzie  found  it.  On  September  12,  with  a 
high  sail  up  and  a  driving  wind,  the  canoes  cut  across 
Lake  Athabasca  and  reached  the  beach  of  Chipewyan 
at  three  in   the  afternoon,  after  one  hundred  and  two 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES      287 

days'  absence,  Mackenzie  had  not  found  the  North- 
west Passage.  He  had  proved  there  was  no  North- 
west Passage,  and  discovered  the  Mississippi  of  the 
north  —  Mackenzie  River. 

Mackenzie  spent  the  long  winter  at  Fort  Chipewyan; 
but  just  as  soon  as  the  rivers  cleared  of  ice,  he  took 
passage  in  the  east-bound  canoes  and  hurried  down  to 
the  Grand  Portage  or  Fort  William  on  Lake  Superior, 
the  headquarters  of  the  Northwest  Company,  where 
he  reported  his  discovery  of  Mackenzie  River.  His 
report  was  received  with  utter  indifference.  The  com- 
pany had  other  matters  to  think  about.  It  was 
girding  itself  for  the  life-and- death  struggle  with  its 
rival,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  "  My  expedition 
was  hardly  spoken  of,  but  that  is  what  I  expected,"  he 
writes  to  his  cousin.  But  chagrin  did  not  deter  pur- 
pose. He  asked  the  directors'  permission  to  explore 
that  other  broad  stream  —  Peace  River  —  rolling  down 
from  the  mountains.  His  request  was  granted. 
Winter  saw  him  on  furlough  in  England,  studying 
astronomy  and  surveying  for  the  next  expedition. 
Here  he  heard  much  of  the  Western  Sea  —  the  Pacific 
—  that  fired  his  eagerness.  The  voyages  of  Cook  and 
Hanna  and  Meares  were  on  everybody's  lips.  Spain 
and  England  and  Russia  were  each  pushing  for  first 
possession  of  the  northwest  coast.  Mackenzie 
hurried  back  to  his  Company's  fort  on  the  banks  of 


288     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

Peace  River,  where  he  spent  a  restless  winter  waiting 
for  navigation  to  open.  Doubts  of  his  own  ambitions 
began  to  trouble  him.  What  if  Peace  River  did  not 
lead  to  the  west  coast  at  all  ?  What  if  he  were  behind 
some  other  discoverer  sent  out  by  the  Spaniards  or  the 
Russians  ?  "  I  have  been  so  vexed  of  late  that  I  can- 
not sit  down  to  anything  steadily,"  he  confesses  in  a 
letter  to  his  cousin.  Such  a  tissue-paper  wall  sepa- 
rates the  aims  of  the  real  hero  from  those  of  the  fool, 
that  almost  every  ambitious  man  must  pass  through 
these  periods  of  self-doubt  before  reaching  the  goal  of 
his  hopes.  But  despondency  did  not  benumb  Mac- 
kenzie into  apathy,  as  it  has  weaker  men. 

By  April  he  had  shipped  the  year's  furs  from  the 
forks  of  Peace  River  to  Chipewyan.  By  May  his 
season's  work  was  done.  He  was  ready  to  go  up 
Peace  River.  A  birch  canoe  thirty  feet  long,  lined 
with  lightest  of  cedar,  was  built.  In  this  were  stored 
pemmican  and  powder.  Alexander  Mackay,  a  clerk 
of  the  company,  was  chosen  as  first  assistant.  Six 
Canadian  voyageurs  —  two  of  whom  had  accompanied 
Mackenzie  to  the  Arctic  —  and  two  Indian  hunters 
made  up  the  party  of  ten  who  stepped  into  the  canoes 
at  seven  in  the  evening  of  May  9,  1793. 

Peace  River  tore  down  from  the  mountains  flooded 
with  spring  thaw.  The  crew  soon  realized  that  pad- 
dles must  be   bent  against  the  current  of  a  veritable 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES 


289 


mill-race  ;  but  it  was  safer  going  against,  than  with, 
such  a  current,  for  unknown  dangers  could  be  seen 
from  below  instead  of  above,  where  suction  would 
whirl  a  canoe  on  the  rocks.  Keen  air  foretold  the 
nearing  mountains.  In  less  than  a  week  snow-capped 
peaks  had  crowded  the  canoe  in  a  narrow  canon 
below  a  tumbling  cascade  where  the  river  was  one  wild 
sheet  of  tossing  foam  as  far  as  eye  could  see.  The 
difficulty  was  to  land  ;  for  precipices  rose  on  each  side 
in  a  wall,  down  which  rolled  enormous  boulders  and 
land-slides  of  loose  earth.  To  portage  goods  up  these 
walls  was  impossible.  Fastening  an  eighty-foot  tow- 
line  to  the  bow,  Mackenzie  leaped  to  the  declivity,  axe 
in  hand,  cut  foothold  along  the  face  of  the  steep  cliff 
to  a  place  where  he  could  jump  to  level  rock,  and  then, 
turning,  signalled  through  the  roar  of  the  rapids  for 
his  men  to  come  on.  The  voyageurs  were  paralyzed 
with  fear.  They  stripped  themselves  ready  to  swim  if 
they  missed  the  jump,  then  one  by  one  vaulted  from 
foothold  to  foothold  where  Mackenzie  had  cut  till  they 
came  to  the  final  jump  across  water.  Here  Macken- 
zie caught  each  on  his  shoulders  as  the  voyageurs 
leaped.  The  tow-line  was  then  passed  round  trees 
growing  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  and  the  canoe 
tracked  up  the  raging  cascade.  The  waves  almost 
lashed  the  frail  craft  to  pieces.  Once  a  wave  caught 
her  sideways  ;   the  tow-line  snapped  like  a  pistol  shot. 


290 


PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 


for  just  one  instant  the  canoe  hung  poised,  and  then 
the  back-wash  of  an  enormous  boulder  drove  her  bow 
foremost  ashore,  where  the  voyageurs  regained  the  tow- 
line. 

The   men  had  not  bargained  on  this  kind  of  work. 
They  bluntly  declared  that  it  was  absurd  trying  to  go 


Slave  Lake  Indians. 


up  canons  with  such  cascades.  Mackenzie  paid  no 
heed  to  the  murmurings.  He  got  his  crew  to  the  top 
of  the  hill,  spread  out  the  best  of  a  regale  —  including 
tea  sweetened  with  sugar  —  and  while  the  men  were 
stimulating  courage  by  a  feast,  he  went  ahead  to  recon- 
noitre the  gorge.     Windfalls  of  enormous  spruce  trees, 


FIRST    ACROSS    THE    ROCKIES      291 

with  a  thickness  twice  the  height  of  a  man,  lay  on  a 
steep  declivity  of  sliding  rock.  Up  this  climbed  Mac- 
kenzie, clothes  torn  to  tatters  by  devil's  club  (a 
thorn  bush  with  spines  like  needles),  boots  hacked  to 
pieces  by  the  sharp  rocks,  and  feet  gashed  with  cuts. 
The  prospect  was  not  bright.  As  far  as  he  could  see 
the  river  was  one  succession  of  cataracts  fifty  feet  wide 
walled  in  by  stupendous  precipices,  down  which  rolled 
great  boulders,  shattering  to  pebbles  as  they  fell.  The 
men  were  right.  No  canoe  could  go  up  that  stream. 
Mackenzie  came  back,  set  his  men  to  repairing  the 
canoe  and  making  axe  handles,  to  avoid  the  idleness 
that  breeds  mutiny,  and  sent  Mackay  ahead  to  see 
how  far  the  rapids  extended.  Mackay  reported  that 
the  portage  would  be  nine  miles  over  the  mountain. 

Leading  the  way,  axe  in  hand,  Mackenzie  began 
felling  trees  so  that  the  trunks  formed  an  outer  railing 
to  prevent  a  fall  down  the  precipice.  Up  this  trail 
they  warped  the  canoe  by  pulling  the  tow-line  round 
stumps,  five  men  going  in  advance  to  cut  the  way, 
five  hauling  and  pushing  the  canoe.  In  one  day 
progress  was  three  miles.  By  five  in  the  afternoon 
the  men  were  so  exhausted  that  they  went  to  bed  —  if 
bare  ground  with  sky  overhead  could  be  called  bed. 
One  thing  alone  encouraged  them :  as  they  rose 
higher  up  the  mountain  side,  they  saw  that  the  green 
edges  of  the  glaciers  and  the  eternal   snows   projected 


292      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

over  the  precipices.  They  were  Hearing  the  summit 
—  they  must  surely  soon  cross  the  Divide.  The  air 
grew  colder.  For  three  days  the  choppers  worked  in 
their  blanket  coats.  When  they  finally  got  the  canoe 
down  to  the  river-bed,  it  was  to  see  another  range  of 
impassable  mountains  barring  the  way  westward.  All 
that  kept  Mackenzie's  men  from  turning  back  was 
that  awful  portage  of  nine  miles.  Nothing  ahead 
could  be  worse  than  what  lay  behind  ;  so  they  em- 
barked, following  the  south  branch  where  the  river 
forked.  The  stream  was  swift  as  a  cascade.  Half  the 
crew  walked  to  lighten  the  canoe  and  prevent  grazing 
on  the  rocky  bottoms. 

Once,  at  dusk,  when  walkers  and  paddlers  hap- 
pened to  have  camped  on  opposite  shores,  the  march- 
ers came  dashing  across  stream,  wading  neck-high,  with 
news  that  they  had  heard  the  firearms  of  Indian 
raiders.  Fires  were  put  out,  muskets  loaded,  and 
each  man  took  his  station  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  where 
all  passed  a  sleepless  night.  No  hostiles  appeared. 
The  noise  was  probably  falling  avalanches.  And  once 
when  Mackenzie  and  Mackay  had  gone  ahead  with 
the  Indian  interpreters,  they  came  back  to  find  that 
the  canoe  had  disappeared.  In  vain  they  kindled 
fires,  fired  guns,  set  branches  adrift  on  the  swift  cur- 
rent as  a  signal  —  no  response  came  from  the  voyageurs. 
The    boatmen   evidently    did   not   wish    to    be   found. 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES      293 

What  Mackenzie's  suspicions  were  one  may  guess. 
It  would  be  easier  for  the  crew  to  float  back  down 
Peace  River  than  pull  against  this  terrific  current  with 
more  portages  over  mountains.  The  Indians  became 
so  alarmed  that  they  wanted  to  build  a  raft  forthwith 
and  float  back  to  Chipewyan.  The  abandoned  party 
had  not  tasted  a  bite  of  food  for  twenty-four  hours. 
They  had  not  even  seen  a  grouse,  and  in  their  powder 
horns  were  only  a  few  rc^nds  of  ammunition.  Sepa- 
rating, Mackenzie  and  his  Indian  went  up-stream, 
Mackay  and  his  went  down-stream,  each  agreeing  to 
signal  the  other  by  gunshots  if  either  found  the 
canoe.  Barefooted  and  drenched  in  a  terrific  thunder- 
storm, Mackenzie  wandered  on  till  darkness  shrouded 
the  forest.  He  had  just  lain  down  on  a  soaking 
couch  of  spruce  boughs  when  the  ricochetting  echo  of 
a  gun  set  the'  boulders  crashing  down  the  precipices. 
Hurrying  down-stream,  he  found  Mackay  at  the 
canoe.  The  crew  pretended  that  a  leakage  about 
the  keel  had  caused  delay ;  but  the  canoe  did  not  sub- 
stantiate the  excuse.  Mackenzie  said  nothing ;  but  he 
never  again  allowed  the  crew  out  of  his  sight  on  the 
east  side  of  the  mountains. 

So  far  there  had  been  no  sign  of  Indians  among 
the  mountains;  and  now  the  canoe  was  gliding  along 
calm  waters  when  savages  suddenly  sprang  out  of  a 
thicket,  brandishing  spears.     The  crew  became  panic- 


294     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

stricken  ;  but  Mackenzie  stepped  fearlessly  ashore, 
offered  the  hostiles  presents,  shook  hands,  and  made 
his  camp  with  them.  The  savages  told  him  that  he 
was  nearing  a  portage  across  the  Divide.  One  of 
them  went  with  Mackenzie  the  next  day  as  guide. 
The  river  narrowed  to  a  small  tarn  —  the  source  of 
Peace  River  ;  and  a  short  portage  over  rocky  ground 
brought  the  canoe  to  a  second  tarn  emptying  into  a 
river  that,  to  Mackenzie's  disappointment,  did  not  flow 
west,  but  south.  He  had  crossed  the  Divide,  the  first 
white  man  to  cross  the  continent  in  the  North;  but  how 
could  he  know  whether  to  follow  this  stream?  Jt  might 
lead  east  to  the  Saskatchewan.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  was  on  the  sources  of  the  Fraser,  that  winds  for 
countless  leagues  south  through  the  mountains  before 
turning  westward  for  the  Pacific. 

Full  of  doubt  and  misgivings,  uncertain  whether 
he  had  crossed  the  Divide  at  all,  Mackenzie  ordered 
the  canoe  down  this  river.  Snowy  peaks  were  on 
every  side.  Glaciers  lay  along  the  mountain  tarns, 
icy  green  from  the  silt  of  the  glacier  grinding  over 
rock ;  and  the  river  was  hemmed  in  by  shadowy 
canons  with  roaring  cascades  that  compelled  frequent 
portage.  Mackenzie  wanted  to  walk  ahead,  in  order 
to  Hghten  the  canoe  and  look  out  for  danger ;  but 
fear  had  got  in  the  marrow  of  his  men.  They  thought 
that    he  was   trying  to    avoid   risks    to   which    he  was 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES      295 

exposing  them  ;  and  they  compelled  him  to  embark, 
vowing,  if  they  were  to  perish,  he  was  to  perish  with 
them. 

To  quiet  their  fears,  Mackenzie  embarked  with 
them.  Barely  had  they  pushed  out  when  the  canoe 
was  caught  by  a  sucking  undercurrent  which  the 
paddlers  could  not  stem — a  terrific  rip  told  them 
that  the  canoe  had  struck  —  the  rapids  whirled  her 
sideways  and  away  she  went  down-stream  —  the  men 
jumped  out,  but  the  current  carried  them  to  such 
deep  water  that  they  were  clinging  to  the  gunwales  as 
best  they  could  when,  with  another  rip,  the  stern  was 
torn  clean  out  of  the  canoe.  The  blow  sent  her 
swirling  —  another  rock  battered  the  bow  out  —  the 
keel  flattened  like  a  raft  held  together  only  by  the 
bars.  Branches  hung  overhead.  The  bowman  made 
a  frantic  grab  at  these  to  stop  the  rush  of  the  canoe  — 
he  was  hoisted  clear  from  his  seat  and  dropped  ashore 
Mackenzie  jumped  out  up  to  his  waist  in  ice-water. 
The  steersman  had  yelled  for  each  to  save  himself; 
but  Mackenzie  shouted  out  a  countermand  for  every 
man  to  hold  on  to  the  gunwales.  In  this  fashion  they 
were  all  dragged  several  hundred  yards  till  a  whirl 
sent  the  wreck  into  a  shallow  eddy.  The  men  got 
their  feet  on  bottom,  and  the  wreckage  was  hauled 
ashore.  During  the  entire  crisis  the  Indians  sat  on 
top  of  the  canoe,  howling  with  terror. 


296      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

All  the  bullets  had  been  lost,  A  few  were  recovered. 
Powder  was  spread  out  to  dry  ;  and  the  men  flatly  re- 
fused to  go  one  foot  farther.  Mackenzie  listened  to 
the  revolt  without  a  word.  He  got  their  clothes  dry 
and  their  benumbed  limbs  warmed  over  a  roaring  fire. 
He  fed  them  till  their  spirits  had  risen.  Then  he 
quietly  remarked  that  the  experience  would  teach 
them  how  to  run  rapids  in  the  future.  Men  of  the 
North  —  to  turn  back  ^  Such  a  thing  had  never  been 
known  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest  Fur  Company. 
It  would  disgrace  them  forever.  Think  of  the  honor 
of  conquering  disaster.  Then  he  vowed  that  he  would 
go  ahead,  whether  the  men  accompanied  him  or  not. 
Then  he  set  them  to  patching  the  canoe  with  oil-cloth 
and  bits  of  bark  ;  but  large  sheets  of  birch  bark  are 
rare  in  the  Rockies ;  and  the  patched  canoe  weighed 
so  heavily  that  the  men  could  scarcely  carry  it.  It 
took  them  fourteen  hours  to  make  the  three-mile 
portage  of  these  rapids.  The  Indian  from  the  moun- 
tain tribe  had  lost  heart.  Mackenzie  and  Mackay 
watched  him  by  turns  at  night;  but  the  fellow  got 
away  under  cover  of  darkness,  the  crew  conniving  at 
the  escape  in  order  to  compel  Mackenzie  to  turn  back. 
Finally  the  river  wound  into  a  large  stream  on  the  west 
side  of  the  main  range  of  the  Rockies.  Mackenzie 
had  crossed  the  Divide. 

For    a   week   after  crossing   the    Divide,  the  canoe 


FIRST    ACROSS    THE    ROCKIES       297 

followed  the  course  of  the  river  southward.  This  was 
not  what  Mackenzie  expected.  He  sought  a  stream 
flowing  directly  westward,  and  was  keenly  alert  for  sign 
of  Indian  encampment  where  he  might  learn  the  short- 
est way  to  the  Western  Sea.  Once  the  smoke  of  a 
camp-fire  rose  through  the  bordering  forest ;  but  no 
sooner  had  Mackenzie's  interpreters  approached  than 
the  savages  fired  volley  after  volley  of  arrows  and 
swiftly  decamped,  leaving  no  trace  of  a  trail.  There 
was  nothing  to  do  but  continue  down  the  devious 
course  of  the  uncertain  river.  The  current  was  swift 
and  the  outlook  cut  off  by  the  towering  mountains  ; 
but  in  a  bend  of  the  river  they  came  on  an  Indian 
canoe  drawn  ashore.  A  savage  was  just  emerging 
from  a  side  stream  when  Mackenzie's  men  came  in 
view.  With  a  wild  whoop,  the  fellow  made  off  for 
the  woods  ;  and  in  a  trice  the  narrow  river  was  lined 
with  naked  warriors,  brandishing  spears  and  displaying 
the  most  outrageous  hostility.  When  Mackenzie 
attempted  to  land,  arrows  hissed  past  the  canoe,  which 
they  might  have  punctured  and  sunk.  Determined  to 
learn  the  way  westward  from  these  Indians,  Mackenzie 
tried  strategy.  He  ordered  his  men  to  float  some  dis- 
tance from  the  savages.  Then  he  landed  alone  on  the 
shore  opposite  the  hostiles,  having  sent  one  of  his 
interpreters  by  a  detour  through  the  woods  to  lie  in 
ambush  with  fusee  ready  for  instant  action.     Throwing 


298      PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

aside  weapons,  Mackenzie  displayed  tempting  trinkets. 
The  warriors  conferred,  hesitated,  jumped  in  the  canoes, 
and  came,  backing  stern  foremost,  toward  Mackenzie. 
He  threw  out  presents.  They  came  ashore  and  were 
presently  sitting  by  his  side. 

From  them  he  learned  the  river  he  was  following 
ran  for  "  many  moons  "  through  the  "  shining  moun- 
tains "  before  it  reached  the  "midday  sun."  It  was 
barred  by  fearful  rapids  ;  but  by  retracing  the  way 
back  up  the  river,  the  white  men  could  leave  the 
canoe  at  a  carrying  place  and  go  overland  to  the  salt 
water  in  eleven  days.  From  other  tribes  down  the 
same  river,  Mackenzie  gathered  similar  facts.  He 
knew  that  the  stream  was  misleading  him  ;  but  a  retro- 
grade movement  up  such  a  current  would  discourage 
his  men.  He  had  only  one  month's  provisions  left. 
His  ammunition  had  dwindled  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
bullets  and  thirty  pounds  of  shot.  Instead  of  folding 
his  hands  in  despondency,  Mackenzie  resolved  to  set  the 
future  at  defiance  and  go  on.  From  the  Indians  he 
obtained  promise  of  a  man  to  guide  him  back.  Then 
he  frankly  laid  all  the  difficulties  before  his  followers, 
declaring  that  he  was  going  on  alone  and  they  need 
not  continue  unless  they  voluntarily  decided  to  do  so. 
His  dogged  courage  was  contagious.  The  speech  was 
received  with  huzzas,  and  the  canoe  was  headed  up- 
stream. 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES       299 

The  Indian  guide  was  to  join  Mackenzie  higher  up- 
stream ;  but  the  reappearance  of  the  white  men  when 
they  had  said  they  would  not  be  back  for  "  many 
moons  "  roused  the  suspicions  of  the  savages.  The 
shores  were  Hned  with  warriors  who  would  receive  no 
explanation  that  Mackenzie  tried  to  give  in  sign  lan- 
guage. The  canoe  began  to  leak  so  badly  that  the  boat- 
men had  to  spend  half  the  time  bailing  out  water ;  and 
the  voyageurs  dared  not  venture  ashore  for  resin.  Along 
the  river  cliff  was  a  little  three-cornered  hut  of  thatched 
clay.  Here  Mackenzie  took  refuge,  awaiting  the  return 
of  the  savage  who  had  promised  to  act  as  guide.  The 
three  walls  protected  the  rear,  but  the  front  of  the  hut  was 
exposed  to  the  warriors  across  the  river  ;  and  the  whites 
dared  not  kindle  a  fire  that  might  serve  as  a  target. 
Two  nights  were  passed  in  this  hazardous  shelter, 
Mackay  and  Mackenzie  alternately  lying  in  their 
cloaks  on  the  wet  rocks,  keeping  watch.  At  midnight 
of  the  third  day's  siege,  a  rustling  came  from  the 
woods  to  the  rear  and  the  boatmen's  dog  set  up  a  fu- 
rious barking.  The  men  were  so  frightened  that  they 
three  times  loaded  the  canoe  to  desert  their  leader,  but 
something  in  the  fearless  confidence  of  the  explorer 
deterred  them.  As  daylight  sifted  through  the  forest, 
Mackenzie  descried  a  vague  object  creeping  through 
the  underbrush.  A  less  fearless  man  would  have  fired 
and  lost  all.      Mackenzie  dashed  out  to  find  the  cause 


300     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

of  alarm  an  old  blind  man,  almost  in  convulsions  from 
fear.  He  had  been  driven  from  this  river  hut.  Mac- 
kenzie quieted  his  terror  with  food.  By  signs  the  old 
man  explained  that  the  Indians  had  suspected  treachery 
when  the  whites  returned  so  soon;  and  by  signs  Mac- 
kenzie requested  him  to  guide  the  canoe  back  up  the 
river  to  the  carrying  place  ;  but  the  old  creature  went 
off  in  such  a  palsy  of  fear  that  he  had  to  be  lifted 
bodily  into  the  canoe.  The  situation  was  saved. 
The  hostiles  could  not  fire  without  wounding  one  of 
their  own  people  ;  and  the  old  man  could  explain  the 
real  reason  for  Mackenzie's  return.  Rations  had  been 
reduced  to  two  meals  a  day.  The  men  were  still  sulk- 
ing from  the  perils  of  the  siege  when  the  canoe  struck 
a  stump  that  knocked  a  hole  in  the  keel,  "  which,"  re- 
ports Mackenzie,  laconically,  "  gave  them  all  an 
opportunity  to  let  loose  their  discontent  without  re- 
serve." Camp  after  camp  they  passed,  which  the  old 
man's  explanations  pacified,  till  they  at  length  came  to 
the  carrying  place.  Here,  to  the  surprise  and  delight 
of  all,  the  guide  awaited  them. 

On  July  4,  provisions  were  cached^  the  canoe 
abandoned,  and  a  start  made  overland  westward,  each 
man  carrying  ninety  pounds  of  provisions  besides 
musket  and  pistols.  And  this  burden  was  borne  on 
the  rations  of  two  scant  meals  a  day.  The  way  was 
ridgy,  steep,  and   obstructed  by  windfalls.     At  cloud- 


FIRST   ACROSS   THE    ROCKIES 


301 


line,  the  rocks  were  slippery  as  glass  from  moisture, 
and  Mackenzie  led  the  way,  beating  the  drip  from  the 
branches  as  they  marched.  The  record  was  twelve 
miles  the  first  day.  When  it  rained,  the  shelter  was 
a  piece  of  oil-cloth  held  up  in  an  extemporized  tent, 
the  men  crouching  to  sleep  as  best  they  could.     The 


Good  Hope,  Mackenzie  River.     Hudson's  Bay  Company  Fort. 

way  was  well  beaten  and  camp  was  frequently  made 
for  the  night  with  strange  Indians,  from  whom  fresh 
guides  were  hired ;  but  when  he  did  not  camp  with  the 
natives,  Mackenzie  watched  his  guide  by  sleeping 
with  him.  Though  the  fellow  was  malodorous  from 
fish  oil  and  infested  with    vermin,   Mackenzie  would 


302      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

spread  his  cloak  in  such  a  way  that  escape  was  impossi- 
ble without  awakening  himself.  No  sentry  was  kept  at 
night.  All  hands  were  too  deadly  tired  from  the  day's 
cHmb.  Once,  in  the  impenetrable  gloom  of  the  mid- 
night forest,  Mackenzie  was  awakened  by  a  plaintive 
chant  in  a  kind  of  unearthly  music.  A  tribe  was  en- 
gaged in  religious  devotions  to  some  woodland  deity. 
Totem  poles  of  cedar,  carved  with  the  heads  of  animals 
emblematic  of  family  clans,  told  Mackenzie  that  he  was 
nearing  the  coast  tribes.  Barefooted,  with  ankles 
swollen  and  clothes  torn  to  shreds,  they  had  crossed 
the  last  range  of  mountains  within  two  weeks  of  leaving 
the  inland  river.  They  now  embarked  with  some 
natives  for  the  sea. 

One  can  guess  how  Mackenzie's  heart  thrilled  as 
they  swept  down  the  swift  river  —  six  miles  an  hour  — 
past  fishing  weirs  and  Indian  camps,  till  at  last,  far 
out  between  the  mountains,  he  descried  the  narrow  arm 
of  the  blue,  limitless  sea.  The  canoe  leaked  like  a 
sieve;  but  what  did  that  matter?  At  eight  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  20,  the  river  carried 
them  to  a  wide  lagoon,  lapped  by  a  tide,  with  the  sea- 
weed waving  for  miles  along  the  shore.  Morning 
fog  still  lay  on  the  far-billowing  ocean.  Sea  otters 
tumbled  over  the  slimy  rocks  with  discordant  cries. 
Gulls  darted  overhead  ;  and  past  the  canoe  dived  the 
great  floundering  grampus.     There  was  no  mistaking. 


FIRST   ACROSS    THE    ROCKIES      303 

This  was  the  sea  —  the  Western  Sea,  that  for  three 
hundred  years  had  baffled  all  search  overland,  and  led 
the  world's  greatest  explorers  on  a  chase  of  a  will-o'- 
the-wisp.  What  Cartier  and  La  Salle  and  La  Veren- 
drye  failed  to  do,  Mackenzie  had  accomplished. 

But  Mackenzie's  position  was  not  to  be  envied. 
Ten  starving  men  on  a  barbarous  coast  had  exactly 
twenty  pounds  of  pemmican,  fifteen  of  rice,  six  of 
flour.  Of  ammunition  there  was  scarcely  any. 
Between  home  and  their  leaky  canoe  lay  half  a  con- 
tinent of  wilderness  and  mountains.  The  next  day 
was  spent  coasting  the  cove  for  a  place  to  take  obser- 
vations. Canoes  of  savages  met  the  white  men,  and 
one  impudent  fellow  kept  whining  out  that  he  had 
once  been  shot  at  by  men  of  Mackenzie's  color. 
Mackenzie  took  refuge  for  the  night  on  an  isolated 
rock  which  was  barely  large  enough  for  his  party  to 
gain  a  foothold.  The  savages  hung  about  pestering 
the  boatmen  for  gifts.  Two  white  men  kept  guard, 
while  the  rest  slept.  On  Monday,  when  Mackenzie 
was  setting  up  his  instruments,  his  young  Indian 
guide  came,  foaming  at  the  mouth  from  terror,  with 
news  that  the  coast  tribes  were  to  attack  the  white 
men  by  hurling  spears  at  the  unsheltered  rock.  The 
boatmen  lost  their  heads  and  were  for  instant  flight, 
anywhere,  everywhere,  in  a  leaky  canoe  that  would 
have    foundered    a    mile  out  at  sea.      Mackenzie  did 


304     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

not  stir,  but  ordered  fusees  primed  and  the  canoe 
gummed.  Mixing  up  a  pot  of  vermilion,  he  painted 
in  large  letters  on  the  face  of  the  rock  where  they 
had  passed  the  night :  — 

"  Alexander  Mackenzie,  from  Canada,  by  land,  the 
twenty-second  of  July,  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-three." 

The  canoe  was  then  headed  eastward  for  the  home- 
ward trip.  Only  once  was  the  explorer  in  great 
danger  on  his  return.  It  was  just  as  the  canoe  was 
leaving  tide-water  for  the  river.  The  young  Indian 
guide  led  him  full  tilt  into  the  village  of  hostiles  that 
had  besieged  the  rock.  Mackenzie  was  alone,  his 
men  following  with  the  baggage.  Barely  had  he 
reached  the  woods  when  two  savages  sprang  out,  with 
daggers  in  hand  ready  to  strike.  Quick  as  a  flash, 
Mackenzie  quietly  raised  his  gun.  They  dropped 
back  ;  but  he  was  surrounded  by  a  horde  led  by  the 
impudent  chief  of  the  attack  on  the  rock  the  first 
night  on  the  sea.  One  warrior  grasped  Mackenzie 
from  behind.  In  the  scuffle  hat  and  cloak  came  off; 
but  Mackenzie  shook  himself  free,  got  his  sword  out, 
and  succeeded  in  holding  the  shouting  rabble  at  bay 
till  his  men  came.  Then  such  was  his  rage  at  the 
indignity  that  he  ordered  his  followers  in  line  with 
loaded  fusees,  marched  to  the  village,  demanded  the 
return   of  the    hat   and   cloak,  and   obtained  a  peace- 


FIRST    ACROSS    THE    ROCKIES 


305 


ofFering  of  fish  as  well.  The  Indians  knew  the  power 
of  firearms,  and  fell  at  his  feet  in  contrition.  Mac- 
kenzie named  this  camp  Rascal  Village. 

At  another  time  his  men  lost  heart  so  completely 
over  the  difficulties  ahead  that  they  threw  everything 
they  were  carrying  into  the  river.  Mackenzie 
patiently  sat  on  a  stone  till  they  had  recovered  from 
their  panic.  Then  he  reasoned  and  coaxed  and 
dragooned  them  into  the  spirit  of  courage  that  at  last 
brought  them  safely  over  mountain  and  through 
caiion  to  Peace  River.  On  August  24,  a  sharp 
bend  in  the  river  showed  them  the  little  home  fort 
which  they  had  left  four  months  before.  The  joy  of 
the  voyageurs  fairly  exploded.  They  beat  their  pad- 
dles on  the  canoe,  fired  off  all  the  ammunition  that 
remained,  waved  flags,  and  set  the  cliffs  ringing  with 
shouts. 

Mackenzie  spent  the  following  winter  at  Chipewyan, 
despondent  and  lonely.  "  What  a  situation,  starv- 
ing and  alone !  "  he  writes  to  his  cousin.  The  hard 
life  was  beginning  to  wear  down  the  dauntless  spirit. 
"  1  spend  the  greater  part  of  my  time  in  vague  specu- 
lations. ...  In  fact  my  mind  was  never  at  ease,  nor 
could  I  bend  it  to  my  wishes.  Though  I  am  not 
superstitious,  my  dreams  cause  me  great  annoyance. 
I  scarcely  close  my  eyes  without  finding  myself  in 
company  with  the  dead." 


X 


3o6     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

The  following  winter  Mackenzie  left  the  West 
never  to  return.  The  story  of  his  travels  was  pub- 
lished early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  he  was 
knighted  by  the  English  king.  The  remainder  of  his 
life  was  spent  quietly  on  an  estate  in  Scotland,  where 
he  died  in  1820. 


The  Mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  by  the  Light  of  the  Midnight  Sun. 
—  C.   W.   Mathers. 


CHAPTER    XI 

1 803-1 806 

LEWIS  AND  CLARK 

The  First  White  Men  to  ascend  the  Missouri  to  its  Sources  and 
descend  the  Columbia  to  the  Pacific  —  Exciting  Adventures  on  the 
Canons  of  the  Missouri,  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  Falls  and  the 
Yellowstone  —  Lewis'  Escape  from  Hostiles 

The  spring  of  1904  witnessed  the  centennial  celebra- 
tion of  an  area  as  large  as  half  the  kingdoms  of  Europe, 
that  has  the  unique  distinction  of  having  transferred  its 
allegiance  to  three  different  flags  within  twenty-four 
hours. 

At  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  Spain  had 
ceded  all  the  region  vaguely  known  as  Louisiana  back 
to  France,  and  France  had  sold  the  territory  to  the 
United  States ;  but  post-horse  and  stage  of  those  old 
days  travelled  slowly.  News  of  Spain's  cession  and 
France's  sale  reached  Louisiana  almost  simultaneously. 
On  March  9,  1804,  the  Spanish  grandees  of  St. 
Louis  took  down  their  flag  and,  to  the  delight  of 
Louisiana,  for  form's  sake  erected  French  colors.     On 

307 


3o8     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE   WEST 

March  lo,  the  French  flag  was  lowered  for  the 
emblem  that  has  floated  over  the  Great  West  ever 
since  —  the  stars  and  stripes.  How  vast  was  the  new 
territory  acquired,  the  eastern  states  had  not  the 
slighest  conception.  As  early  as  1792  Captain  Gray, 
of  the  ship  Columbia,  from  Boston,  had  blundered 
into  the  harbor  of  a  vast  river  flowing  into  the  Pacific. 
What  lay  between  this  river  and  that  other  great  river 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountains  —  the  Missouri  ? 
Jefferson  had  arranged  with  John  Ledyard  of  Con- 
necticut, who  had  been  with  Captain  Cook  on  the  Pa- 
cific, to  explore  the  northwest  coast  of  America  by 
crossing  Russia  overland ;  but  Russia  had  similar 
designs  for  herself,  and  stopped  Ledyard  on  the  way. 
In  1803  President  Jefferson  asked  Congress  for  an 
appropriation  to  explore  the  Northwest  by  way  of  the 
Missouri.  Now  that  the  wealth  of  the  West  is  beyond 
the  estimate  of  any  figure,  it  seems  almost  inconceiv- 
able that  there  were  people  little-minded  enough  to 
haggle  over  the  price  paid  for  Louisiana — $15,000,000 
—  and  to  object  to  the  appropriation  required  for  its 
exploration  — 12500;  but  fortunately  the  world  goes 
ahead  in  spite  of  hagglers. 

May  of  1804  saw  Captain  Meriwether  Lewis,  formerly 
secretary  to  President  Jefferson,  and  Captain  William 
Clark  of  Virginia  launch  out  from  Wood  River  oppo- 
site St,  Louis,  where  they  had  kept  their  men  encamped 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK  309 

all  winter  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  waiting 
until  the  formal  transfer  of  Louisiana  for  the  long  jour- 
ney of  exploration  to  the  sources  of  the  Missouri  and 
the  Columbia.  Their  escort  consisted  of  twenty  sol- 
diers, eleven   voyageurs,  and   nine  frontiersmen.     The 


Captain  Meriwether  Lewis. 

main  craft  was  a  keel  boat  fifty-five  feet  long,  of  light 
draft,  with  square-rigged  sail  and  twenty-two  oars,  and 
tow-line  fastened  to  the  mast  pole  to  track  the  boat  up- 
stream through  rapids.  An  American  flag  floated 
from  the  prow,  and  behind  the  flag  the  universal  types 


3IO 


PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 


of  progress  everywhere  —  goods  for  trade  and  a  swivel- 
gun.  Horses  were  led  alongshore  for  hunting,  and 
two  pirogues  —  sharp  at  prow,  broad  at  stern,  like  a 
flat-iron  or  a  turtle  —  glided  to  the  fore  of  the  keel  boat. 


Captain  William  Clark. 


The  Missouri  was  at  flood  tide,  turbid  with  crum- 
bling clay  banks  and  great  trees  torn  out  by  the  roots, 
from  which  keel  boat  and  pirogues  sheered  safely  off. 
For  the  first  time  in  history  the  Missouri  resounded 
to  the  Pourth  of  July  guns  ;  and  round  camp-fire  the 
men    danced     to    the    strains    of  a    voyageurs    fiddle. 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK  311 

Usually,  among  forty  men  is  one  traitor,  and  Liberte 
must  desert  on  pretence  of  running  back  for  a  knife  ; 
but  perhaps  the  fellow  took  fright  from  the  wild  yarns 
told  by  the  lonely-eyed,  shaggy-browed,  ragged  trap- 
pers who  came  floating  down  the  Platte,  down  the 
Osage,  down  the  Missouri,  with  canoe  loads  of  furs 
for  St.  Louis.  These  men  foregathered  with  the 
voyageurs  and  told  only  too  true  stories  of  the  dan- 
gers ahead.  Fires  kindled  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
called  neighboring  Indians  to  council.  Council  Bluffs 
commemorates  one  conference,  of  which  there  were 
many  with  lowas  and  Omahas  and  Ricarees  and  Sioux. 
Pause  was  made  on  the  south  side  of  the  Missouri  to 
visit  the  high  mound  where  Blackbird,  chief  of  the 
Omahas,  was  buried  astride  his  war  horse  that  his  spirit 
might  forever  watch  the  French  voyageurs  passing  up 
and  down  the  river. 

By  October  the  explorers  were  sixteen  hundred 
miles  north  of  St.  Louis,  at  the  Mandan  villages  near 
where  Bismarck  stands  to-day.  The  Mandans  wel- 
comed the  white  men  ;  but  the  neighboring  tribes  of 
Ricarees  were  insolent.  "  Had  I  these  white  warriors 
on  the  upper  plains,"  boasted  a  chief  to  Charles  Mac- 
kenzie, one  of  the  Northwest  Fur  Company  men 
from  Canada,  "  my  young  men  on  horseback  would 
finish  them  as  they  would  so  many  wolves  ;  for  there 
are  only  two  sensible  men  among  them,  the  worker  of 


312      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

iron  [blacksmith]  and  the  mender  of  guns."  Four 
Canadian  traders  had  already  been  massacred  by  this 
chief.  Captain  Lewis  knew  that  his  company  must 
winter  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountains,  and  there 
were  a  dozen  traders  —  Hudson  Bay  and  Nor' west- 
ers—  on  the  ground  practising  all  the  unscrupulous 
tricks  of  rivals.  Nor' westers  driving  off  Hudson 
Bay  horses,  Hudson  Bay  men  driving  off  Nor'- 
westers',  to  defeat  trade ;  so  Captain  Lewis  at  once 
had  a  fort  constructed.  It  was  triangular  in  shape, 
the  two  converging  walls  consisting  of  barracks  with 
a  loopholed  bastion  at  the  apex,  the  base  being  a  high 
wall  of  strong  pickets  where  sentry  kept  constant 
guard.  Hitherto  Captain  Lewis  had  been  able  to 
secure  the  services  of  French  trappers  as  inter- 
preters with  the  Indians  ;  but  the  next  year  he  was 
going  where  there  were  no  trappers  ;  and  now  he 
luckily  engaged  an  old  Nor' wester,  Chaboneau,  whose 
Indian  wife,  Sacajawea,  was  a  captive  from  the  Snake 
tribe  of  the  Rockies.^  On  Christmas  morning,  the 
stars  and  stripes  were  hoisted  above  Fort  Mandan  ; 
and  all  that  night  the  men  danced  hilariously.     On  New 

1  Mention  of  this  man  is  to  be  found  in  Northwest  Company  manuscripts,  lately 
sold  in  the  Masson  collection  of  documents  to  the  Canadian  Archives  and  McGill 
College  Library.  It  was  also  my  good  fortune —  while  this  book  was  going  to  print  — 
to  see  the  entire  family  collection  of  Clark's  letters,  owned  by  Mrs.  Julia  Clark  Voorhis 
of  New  York.  Among  these  letters  is  one  to  Chaboneau  from  Clark.  In  spite  of 
the  cordial  relations  between  the  Nor' westers  and  Lewis  and  Clark,  these  fur  traders 
cannot  conceal  their  fe.ir  that  this  tri|>  presages  the  end  of  the  fur  trade. 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK  313 

Years  of  1805,  the  white  men  visited  the  Mandan 
lodges,  and  one  voyageur  danced  "  on  his  head  "  to 
the  uproarious  applause  of  the  savages.  All  winter  the 
men  joined  in  the  buffalo  hunts,  laying  up  store  of 
pemmican.  In  February,  work  was  begun  on  the  small 
boats  for  the  ascent  of  the  Missouri.  By  the  end  of 
March,  the  river  had  cleared  of  ice,  and  a  dozen  men 
were  sent  back  to  St.  Louis. 

At  five,  in  the  afternoon  of  April  7,  six  canoes  and 
two  pirogues  were  pushed  out  on  the  Missouri.  Sails 
were  hoisted ;  a  cheer  from  the  Canadian  traders  and 
Indians  standing  on  the  shore  —  and  the  boats  glided 
up  the  Missouri  with  flags  flying  from  foremost  prow. 
Hitherto  Lewis  and  Clark  had  passed  over  travelled 
ground.  Now  they  had  set  sail  for  the  Unknown. 
Within  a  week  they  had  passed  the  Little  Missouri, 
the  height  of  land  that  divides  the  waters  of  the  Mis- 
souri from  those  of  the  Saskatchewan,  and  the  great 
Yellowstone  River,  first  found  by  wandering  French 
trappers  and  now  for  the  first  time  explored.  The 
current  of  the  Missouri  grew  swifter,  the  banks  steeper, 
and  the  use  of  the  tow-line  more  frequent.  The  voyage 
was  no  more  the  holiday  trip  that  it  had  been  all  the 
way  from  St.  Louis.  Hunters  were  kept  on  the  banks 
to  forage  for  game,  and  once  four  of  them  came  so 
suddenly  on  an  open-mouthed,  ferocious  old  bear  that 
he  had  turned  hunter  and    they  hunted   before  guns 


314     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

could  be  loaded  ;  and  the  men  saved   themselves  only 
by  jumping  twenty  feet  over  the  bank  into  the  river. 

For  miles  the  boats  had  to  be  tracked  up-stream  by 
the  tow-line.  The  shore  was  so  steep  that  it  offered 
no  toothold.      Men  and  stones  slithered   heterogene- 


Tracking  Up-stream. 


ously  down  the  sliding  gravel  into  the  water.  Moc- 
casins wore  out  faster  than  they  could  be  sewed  ;  and 
the  men's  feet  were  cut  by  prickly-pear  and  rock  as  if 
by  knives.  On  Sunday,  May  26,  when  Captain 
Lewis  was  marching  to  lighten  the  canoes,  he  had 
just  climbed  to  the  summit  of  a  high,  broken  cliff  when 


LEWIS   AND    CLARK  315 

there  burst  on  his  glad  eyes  a  first  glimpse  of  the  far, 
white  "Shining  Mountains"  of  which  the  Indians 
told,  the  Rockies,  snowy  and  dazzling  in  the  morning 
sun.  One  can  guess  how  the  weather-bronzed,  ragged 
man  paused  to  gaze  on  the  glimmering  summits. 
Only  one  other  explorer  had  ever  been  so  far  west  in 
this  region  —  young  De  la  Verendrye,  fifty  years  before  ; 
but  the  Frenchman  had  been  compelled  to  turn  back 
without  crossing  the  mountains,  and  the  two  Ameri- 
cans were  to  assail  and  conquer  what  had  proved  an 
impassable  barrier.  The  Missouri  had  become  too 
deep  for  poles,  too  swift  for  paddles  ;  and  the  banks 
were  so  precipitous  that  the  men  were  often  poised  at 
dizzy  heights  above  the  river,  dragging  the  tow-line 
round  the  edge  of  rock  and  crumbly  cliff.  Captain 
Lewis  was  leading  the  way  one  day,  crawling  along  the 
face  of  a  rock  wall,  when  he  slipped.  Only  a  quick 
thrust  of  his  spontoon  into  the  cliff  saved  him  from 
falling  almost  a  hundred  feet.  He  had  just  struck  it 
with  terrific  force  into  the  rock,  where  it  gave  him  firm 
handhold,  when  he  heard  a  voice  cry,  "  Good  God, 
Captain,  what  shall   I  do  ?  " 

Windsor,  a  frontiersman,  had  slipped  to  the  very 
verge  of  the  rock,  where  he  lay  face  down  with  right 
arm  and  leg  completely  over  the  precipice,  his  left  hand 
vainly  grabbing  empty  air  for  grip  of  anything  that 
would  hold  him  back.      Captain   Lewis  was  horrified, 


3i6     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

but  kept  his  presence  of  mind;  for  the  man's  Hfe  hung 
by  a  thread.  A  move,  a  turn,  the  sHghtest  start  of 
alarm  to  disturb  Windsor's  balance  —  and  he  was  lost. 


Typical  Mountain  Trapper. 

Steadying  his  voice,  Captain  Lewis  shouted  back, 
"  You're  in  little  danger.  Stick  your  knife  in  the  cliff 
to  hoist  yourself  up." 

With  the  leverage  of  the  knife,  Windsor  succeeded 
in   lifting  himself  back  to  the  narrow  ledge.       Then 


The  Discovery  of  the  Great  Falls. 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK 


317 


taking  off  his  moccasins,  he  crawled  along  the  cliff  to 
broader  foothold.  Lewis  sent  word  for  the  crews  to 
wade  the  margin  of  the  river  instead  of  attempting  this 
pass  —  which  they  did,  though  shore  water  was  breast 
high  and  ice  cold. 

The  Missouri  had  now  become  so  narrow  that  it 
was  hard  to  tell  which  was  the  main  river  and  which  a 
tributary ;  so  Captain  Lewis  and  four  men  went  in 
advance  to  find  the  true  course.  Leaving  camp  at 
sunrise,  Captain  Lewis  was  crossing  a  high,  bare  plain, 
when  he  heard  the  most  musical  of  all  wilderness 
sounds  —  the  far  rushing  that  is  the  voice  of  many 
waters.  Far  above  the  prairie  there  shimmered  in  the 
morning  sun  a  gigantic  plume  of  spray.  Surely  this 
was  the  Great  Falls  of  which  the  Indians  told.  Lewis 
and  his  men  broke  into  a  run  across  the  open  for  seven 
miles,  the  rush  of  waters  increasing  to  a  deafening 
roar,  the  plume  of  spray  to  clouds  of  foam.  Cliffs 
two  hundred  feet  high  shut  off  the  view.  Down  these 
scrambled  Lewis,  not  daring  to  look  away  from  his 
feet  till  safely  at  bottom,  when  he  faced  about  to  see 
the  river  compressed  by  sheer  cliffs  over  which  hurled 
a  white  cataract  in  one  smooth  sheet  eighty  feet  high. 
The  spray  tossed  up  in  a  thousand  bizarre  shapes  of 
wind-driven  clouds.  Captain  Lewis  drew  the  long 
sigh  of  the  thing  accomplished.  He  had  found  the 
Great  Falls  of  the  Missouri. 


3i8      PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

Seating  himself  on  the  rock,  he  awaited  his  hunters. 
That  night  they  camped  under  a  tree  near  the  falls. 
Morning  showed  that  the  river  was  one  succession  of 
falls  and  rapids  for  eighteen  miles.  Here  was  indeed 
a  stoppage  to  the  progress  of  the  boats.  Sending  back 
word  to  Captain  Clark  of  the  discovery  of  the  falls, 
Lewis  had  ascended  the  course  of  the  cascades  to  a 
high  hill  when  he  suddenly  encountered  a  herd  of  a 
thousand  buffalo.  It  was  near  supper-time.  Quick 
as  thought,  Lewis  fired.  What  was  his  amazement  to 
see  a  huge  bear  leap  from  the  furze  to  pounce  on  the 
wounded  quarry  ;  and  what  was  Bruin's  amazement  to 
see  the  unusual  spectacle  of  a  thing  as  small  as  a  man 
marching  out  to  contest  possession  of  that  quarry  ? 
Man  and  bear  reared  up  to  look  at  each  other.  Bear 
had  been  master  in  these  regions  from  time  immemorial. 
Man  or  beast  —  which  was  to  be  master  now?  Lewis 
had  aimed  his  weapon  to  fire  again,  when  he  recollected 
that  it  was  not  loaded  ;  and  the  bear  was  coming  on 
too  fast  for  time  ro  recharge.  Captain  Lewis  was  a 
brave  man  and  a  dignified  man ;  but  the  plain  was 
bare  of  tree  or  brush,  and  the  only  safety  was  inglori- 
ous flight.  But  if  he  had  to  retreat,  the  captain 
determined  that  he  would  retreat  only  at  a  walk. 
The  rip  of  tearing  claws  sounded  from  behind,  and 
Lewis  looked  over  his  shoulder  to  see  the  bear  at  a 
hulking  gallop,  open-mouthed,  —  and   off  they  went. 


Fighting  a  Grizzly. 


LEWIS   AND    CLARK  319 

explorer  and  exploited,  in  a  sprinting  match  of  eighty 
yards,  when  the  grunting  roar  of  pursuer  told  pursued 
that  the  bear  was  gaining.  Turning  short,  Lewis 
plunged  into  the  river  to  mid-waist  and  faced  about  with 
his  spontoon  at  the  bear's  nose.  A  sudden  turn  is  an 
old  trick  with  all  Indian  hunters;  the  bear  floundered 
back  on  his  haunches,  reconsidered  the  sport  of  hunt- 
ing this  new  animal,  man,  and  whirled  right  about  for 
the  dead  buffalo. 

It  took  the  crews  from  the  15th  to  the  25th  of 
June  to  portage  past  the  Great  Falls.  Cottonwood 
trees  yielded  carriage  wheels  two  feet  in  diameter,  and 
the  masts  of  the  pirogues  made  axletrees.  On  these 
wagonettes  the  canoes  were  dragged  across  the  portage. 
It  was  hard,  hot  work.  Grizzlies  prowled  round  the 
camp  at  night,  wakening  the  exhausted  workers.  The 
men  actually  fell  asleep  on  their  feet  as  they  toiled, 
and  spent  half  the  night  double-soling  their  torn 
moccasins,  for  the  cactus  already  had  most  of  the  men 
limping  from  festered  feet.  Yet  not  one  word  of 
complaint  was  uttered ;  and  once,  when  the  men  were 
camped  on  a  green  along  the  portage,  a  voyageur  got 
out  his  fiddle,  and  the  sore  feet  danced,  which  was 
more  wholesome  than  moping  or  poulticing.  The 
boldness  of  the  grizzlies  was  now  explained.  Antelope 
and  bufi^alo  were  carried  over  the  falls.  The  bears 
prowled  below  for  the  carrion. 


320     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


After  failure  to  construct  good  hide  boats,  two 
other  craft,  twenty-five  and  thirty-three  feet  long,  were 
knocked   together,  and  the  crews  launched  above  the 

rapids  for  the  far  Shin- 
ing Mountains  that 
lured  like  a  mariner's 
beacon.  Night  and 
day,  when  the  sun  was 
hot,  came  the  boom- 
boom  as  of  artillery 
from  the  mountains. 
The  voyageurs  thought 
this  the  explosion  of 
stones,  but  soon 
learned  to  recognize 
the  sound  of  avalanche 
and  land-slide.  The 
river  became  narrower, 
deeper,  swifter,  as  the 
explorers  approached 
the  mountains.  For 
five    miles    rocks    rose 

Packer  carrying  Goods  across  Portage.  ...  , 

on  each  side  twelve 
hundred  feet  high,  sheer  as  a  wall.  Into  this  shadowy 
canon,  silent  as  death,  crept  the  boats  of  the  white 
men,  vainly  straining  their  eyes  for  glimpse  of 
egress  from   the  watery  defile.     A  word,  a  laugh,  the 


LEWIS   AND    CLARK  321 

snatch  of  a  voyageurs  ditty,  came  back  with  elfin  echo, 
as  if  spirits  hung  above  the  dizzy  heights  spying  on 
the  intruders.  Springs  and  tenuous,  wind-blown  falls 
like  water  threads  trickled  down  each  side  of  the  lofty 
rocks.  The  water  was  so  deep  that  poles  did  not 
touch  bottom,  and  there  was  not  the  width  of  a  foot- 
hold between  water  and  wall  for  camping  ground. 
Flags  were  unfurled  from  the  prows  of  the  boats  to 
warn  marauding  Indians  on  the  height  above  that  the 
voyageurs  were  white  men,  not  enemies.  Darkness 
fell  on  the  canon  with  the  great  hushed  silence  of  the 
mountains  ;  and  still  the  boats  must  go  on  and  on  in 
the  darkness,  for  there  was  no  anchorage.  Finally, 
above  a  small  island  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  was 
found  a'  tiny  camping  ground  with  pine-drift  enough 
for  fire-wood.  Here  they  landed  in  the  pitchy  dark. 
They  had  entered  the  Gates  of  the  Rockies  on  the 
19th  of  July.  In  the  morning  bighorn  and  mountain 
goat  were  seen  scrambling  along  the  ledges  above  the 
water.  On  the  25th  the  Three  Forks  of  the  Mis- 
souri were  reached.  Here  the  Indian  woman,  Saca- 
jawea,  recognized  the  ground  and  practically  became 
the  guide  of  the  party,  advising  the  two  explorers  to 
follow  the  south  fork  or  the  Jefferson,  as  that  was  the 
stream  which  her  tribe  followed  when  crossing  the 
mountains  to  the  plains. 

It  now  became  absolutely  necessary  to  find  moun- 


322     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

tain  Indians  who  would  supply  horses  and  guide  the 
white  men  across  the  Divide.  In  the  hope  of  finding 
the  Indian  trail,  Captain  Lewis  landed  with  two  men 
and  preceded  the  boats.  He  had  not  gone  five  miles 
when  to  his  sheer  delight  he  saw  a  Snake  Indian  on 
horseback.  Ordering  his  men  to  keep  back,  he 
advanced  within  a  mile  of  the  horseman  and  three  times 
spread  his  blanket  on  the  ground  as  a  signal  of  friend- 


Spying  on  an  Enemy  s  Fort 

ship.  The  horseman  sat  motionless  as  bronze.  Captain 
Lewis  went  forward,  with  trinkets  held  out  to  tempt  a 
parley,  and  was  within  a  few  hundred  yards  when  the 
savage  wheeled  and  dashed  off.  Lewis'  men  had  dis- 
obeyed orders  and  frightened  the  fellow  by  advancing. 
Deeply  chagrined,  Lewis  hoisted  an  American  flag  as 
sign  of  friendship  and  continued  his  march.  Tracks 
of  horses  were  followed  across  a  bog,  along  what 
was  plainly  an  Indian  road,  till  the  sources  of  the  Mis- 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK  323 

souri  became  so  narrow  that  one  of  the  men  put  a  foot 
on  each  side  and  thanked  God  that  he  had  Hved  to 
bestride  the  Missouri.  Stooping,  all  drank  from 
the  crystal  spring  whose  waters  they  had  traced  for 
three  thousand  miles  from  St.  Louis.  Following  a 
steep  declivity,  they  were  presently  crossing  the  course 
of  a  stream  that  flowed  west  and  must  lead  to  some 
branch  of  the  Columbia. 

Suddenly,  on  the  cliff  in  front,  Captain  Lewis  dis- 
covered two  squaws,  an  Indian,  and  some  dogs.  Un- 
furling his  flag,  he  advanced.  The  Indians  paused, 
then  dashed  for  the  woods.  Lewis  tried  to  tie  some 
presents  round  the  dogs'  necks  as  a  peace-offering, 
but  the  curs  made  off  after  their  master.  The  white 
men  had  not  proceeded  a  mile  before  they  came  to 
three  squaws,  who  never  moved  but  bowed  their  heads 
to  the  ground  for  the  expected  blow  that  would  make 
them  captives.  Throwing  down  weapons,  Lewis 
pulled  up  his  sleeve  to  show  that  he  was  white.  Pres- 
ents allayed  all  fear,  and  the  squaws  had  led  him  two 
miles  toward  their  camp  when  sixty  warriors  came 
galloping  at  full  speed  with  arrows  levelled.  The 
squaws  rushed  forward,  vociferating  and  showing  their 
presents.  Three  chiefs  at  once  dismounted,  and  fell  on 
Captain  Lewis  with  such  greasy  embraces  of  welcome 
that  he  was  glad  to  end  the  ceremony.  Pipes  were 
smoked,  presents  distributed,  and  the  white  men  con- 


324     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

ducted  to  a  great  leathern  lodge,  where  Lewis  an- 
nounced his  mission  and  prepared  the  Indians  for  the 
coming  of  the  main  force  in  the  boats. 

The  Snakes  scarcely  knew  whether  to   believe  the 
white  man's  tale.     The  Indian  camp  was  short  of  pro- 


jp  J. 


Indian  Camp  at   Foothills  of  Rockies. 


visions,  and  Lewis  urged  the  warriors  to  come  back  up 
the  trail  to  meet  the  advancing  boats.  The  braves  hesi- 
tated. Cameahwait,  the  chief,  harangued  till  a  dozen 
warriors  mounted  their  horses  and  set  out,  Lewis  and 
his  men  each  riding  behind  an  Indian.  Captain 
Clark    could    advance   only    slowly,   and    the    Indians 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK 


3^5 


with  Lewis  grew  suspicious  as  they  entered  the  rocky 
defiles  without  meeting  the  explorers'  party.  Half 
the  Snakes  turned  back.  Among  those  that  went 
on  were  three  women.  To  demonstrate  good  faith, 
Lewis  again  mounted  a  horse  behind  an  Indian,  though 
the  bare-back  riding  over  rough  ground  at  a  mad  pace 
was  almost  jolting  his  bones  apart.  A  spy  came 
back  breathless  with  news  for  the  hungry  warriors  that 
one  of  the  white  hunters  had  killed  a  deer,  and  the 
whole  company  lashed  to  a  breakneck  gallop  that 
nearly  finished  Lewis,  who  could  only  cling  for  dear 
life  to  the  Indian's  waist.  The  poor  wretches  were 
so  ravenous  that  they  fell  on  the  dead  deer  and  de- 
voured it  raw.  It  was  here  that  Lewis  expected  the 
boats.  They  were  not  to  be  seen.  The  Indians  grew 
more  distrustful.  The  chief  at  once  put  fur  collars, 
after  the  fashion  of  Indian  dress,  round  the  white  men's 
shoulders.  As  this  was  plainly  a  trick  to  conceal 
the  whites  in  case  of  treachery  on  their  part,  Lewis 
at  once  took  off  his  hat  and  placed  it  on  the  chief's 
head.  Then  he  hurried  the  Indians  along,  lest  they 
should  lose  courage  completely.  To  his  mortification. 
Captain  Clark  did  not  appear.  To  revive  the  Indians' 
courage,  the  white  men  then  passed  their  guns  across 
to  the  Snakes,  signalling  willingness  to  suffer  death  if 
the  Indians  discovered  treachery.  That  night  all  the 
Indians  hid  in  the  woods  but  five,  who  slept  on  guard 


326     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

round  the  whites.  If  anything  had  stopped  Clark's 
advance,  Lewis  was  lost.  Though  neither  knew  it, 
Lewis  and  Clark  were  only  four  miles  apart.  Clark, 
Chaboneau,  the  guide,  and  Sacajawea,  the  Indian 
woman,  were  walking  on  the  shore  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  the  squaw  began  to  dance  with  signs  of  the 
most  extravagant  joy.  Looking  ahead,  Clark  saw  one 
of  Lewis'  men,  disguised  as  an  Indian,  leading  a  com- 
pany of  Snake  warriors  that  the  squaw  had  recognized 
as  her  own  people,  from  whom  she  had  been  wrested 
when  a  child.  The  Indians  broke  into  songs  of  de- 
light, and  Sacajawea,  dashing  through  the  crowd,  threw 
her  arms  round  an  Indian  woman,  sobbing  and  laugh- 
ing and  exhibiting  all  the  hysterical  delight  of  a  de- 
mented creature.  Sacajawea  and  the  woman  had  been 
playmates  in  childhood  and  had  been  captured  in  the 
same  war ;  but  the  Snake  woman  had  escaped,  while 
Sacajawea  became  a  slave  and  married  the  French 
guide. 

Meanwhile,  Captain  Clark  was  being  welcomed  by 
Lewis  and  the  chief,  Cameahwait.  Sacajawea  was 
called  to  interpret.  Cameahwait  rose  to  speak.  The 
poor  squaw  flung  herself  on  him  with  cries  of  delight. 
In  the  chief  of  the  Snakes  she  had  recognized  her 
brother.  Laced  coats,  medals,  flags,  and  trinkets  were 
presented  to  the  Snakes  ;  but  though  willing  enough 
to  act  as  guides,  the   Indians  discouraged  the  explorers 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK 


327 


about  going  on  in  boats.  The  western  stream  was 
broken  for  leagues  by  terrible  rapids  walled  in  with 
impassable  precipices.  Boats  were  abandoned  and 
horses  bought  from  the  Snakes.  The  white  men  set 
their  faces  northwestward,  the  southern  trail,  usually 
followed  by  the  Snakes,  leading  too  much  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Spanish  settlements.  Game  grew  so  scarce 
that  by  September  the  men  were  without  food  and  a 
colt  was  killed  for  meat. 

By  October  the  company  was  reduced  to  a  diet  of 
dog ;  but  the  last  Divide  had  been  crossed.  Horses 
were  left  with  an  Indian  chief  of  the  Flatheads,  and 
the  explorers  glided  down  the  Clearwater,  leading  to 
the  Columbia,  in  five  canoes  and  one  pilot  boat. 
Great  was  the  joy  in  camp  on  November  8,  1805; 
for  the  boats  had  passed  the  last  portage  of  the  Colum- 
bia. When  heavy  fog  rose,  there  burst  on  the  eager 
gaze  of  the  voyageurs  the  shining  expanse  of  the 
Pacific.  The  shouts  of  the  jubilant  voyageurs  mingled 
with  the  roar  of  ocean  breakers.  Like  Alexander 
Mackenzie  of  the  far  North  a  decade  before,  Lewis  and 
Clark  had  reached  the  long-sought  Western  Sea. 
They  had  been  first  up  the  Missouri,  first  across  the 
middle  Rockies,  and  first  down  the  Columbia  to  the 
Pacific. 

Seven  huts,  known  as  Fort  Clatsop,  were  knocked 
up  on   the  south   side  of  the    Columbia's  harbor  for 


328      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

winter  quarters  ;  and  a  wretched  winter  the  little  fort 
spent,  beleaguered  not  by  hostiles,  but  by  such  inclem- 
ent damp  that  all  the  men  were  ill  before  spring  and 
their  very  leather  suits  rotted  from  their  backs. 
Many  a  time,  coasting  the  sea,  were  they  benighted. 
Spreading  mats  on  the  sand,  they  slept  in  the  drench- 
ing rain.  Unused  to  ocean  waters,  the  inland  voya- 
geurs  became  deadly  seasick.  Once,  when  all  were 
encamped  on  the  shore,  an  enormous  tidal  wave  broke 
over  the  camp  with  a  smashing  of  log-drift  that  almost 
crushed  the  boats.  Nez  Perces  and  Flatheads  had 
assisted  the  white  men  after  the  Snake  guides  had 
turned  back.  Clatsops  and  Chinooks  were  now  their 
neighbors.  Christmas  and  New  Year  of  1806  were 
celebrated  by  a  discharge  of  firearms.  No  boats 
chanced  to  touch  at  the  Columbia  during  the  winter. 
The  time  was  passed  laying  up  store  of  elk  meat  and 
leather ;  for  the  company  was  not  only  starving,  but 
nearly  naked.  The  Pacific  had  been  reached  on  No- 
vember 14,  1805.  Fort  Clatsop  was  evacuated  on 
the  afternoon  of  March  23,  1806. 

The  goods  left  to  trade  for  food  and  horses  when 
Lewis  and  Clark  departed  from  the  coast  inland  had 
dwindled  to  what  could  have  been  tied  in  two  handker- 
chiefs ;  but  necessity  proved  the  mother  of  invention, 
and  the  men  cut  the  brass  buttons  from  their  tattered 
clothes  and  vended  brass  trinkets  to  the  Indians.     The 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK  329 

medicine-chest  was  also  sacrificed,  every  Indian  tribe 
besieging  the  two  captains  for  eye-water,  fly-blisters,  and 
other  patent  wares.  The  poverty  of  the  white  man 
roused  the  insolence  of  the  natives  on  the  return  over 
the  mountains.  Rocks  were  rolled  down  on  the  boat- 
men at  the  worst  portages  by  aggressive  Indians;  and 
once,  when  the  hungry  voyageurs  were  at  a  meal  of  dog 
meat,  an  Indian  impudently  flung  a  live  pup  straight 
at  Captain  Lewis'  plate.  In  a  trice  the  pup  was  back 
in  the  fellow's  face ;  Lewis  had  seized  a  weapon  ;  and 
the  crestfallen  aggressor  had  taken  ignominiously  to 
his  heels.  When  they  had  crossed  the  mountains,  the 
forces  divided  into  three  parties,  two  to  go  east  by  the 
Yellowstone,  one  under  Lewis  by  the  main  Missouri. 

Somewhere  up  the  height  of  land  that  divides  the 
southern  waters  of  the  Saskatchewan  from  the  northern 
waters  of  the  Missouri,  the  tracks  of  Minnetaree  war- 
riors were  found.  These  were  the  most  murderous 
raiders  of  the  plains.  Over  a  swell  of  the  prairie 
Lewis  was  startled  to  see  a  band  of  thirty  horses,  half 
of  them  saddled.  The  Indians  were  plainly  on  the 
war-path,  for  no  women  were  in  camp  ;  so  Lewis 
took  out  his  flag  and  advanced  unfalteringly.  An 
Indian  came  forward.  Lewis  and  the  chief  shook 
hands,  but  Lewis  now  had  no  presents  to  pacify 
hostiles.  Camping  with  the  Minnetarees  for  the  night, 
as  if  he  feared  nothing,  Lewis  nevertheless  took  good 


330     PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 

care  to  keep  close  watch  on  all  movements.  He 
smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  with  them  as  late  as  he 
dared  ;  and  when  he  retired  to  sleep,  he  had  ordered 
Fields  and  the  other  two  white  men  to  be  on  guard. 
At  sunrise  the  Indians  crowded  round  the  fire,  where 


Indians  of  the   Up-country  or  Pays  d'en  Haut. 

Fields  had  for  the  moment  carelessly  laid  his  rifle. 
Simultaneously,  the  warriors  dashed  at  the  weapons  of 
the  sleeping  white  men,  while  other  Indians  made  off 
with  the  explorers'  horses.  With  a  shout,  Fields  gave 
the  alarm,  and  pursuing  the  thieves,  grappled  with  the 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK  331 

Indian  who  had  stolen  his  rifle.  In  the  scufiie  the 
Indian  was  stabbed  to  the  heart.  Drewyer  succeeded 
in  wresting  back  his  gun,  and  Lewis  dashed  out  with 
his  pistol,  shouting  for  the  Indians  to  leave  the  horses. 
The  raiders  were  mounting  to  go  off  at  full  speed. 
The  white  men  pursued  on  foot.  Twelve  horses  fell 
behind;  but  just  as  the  Indians  dashed  for  hiding 
behind  a  cliff,  Lewis'  strength  gave  out.  He  warned 
them  if  they  did  not  stop  he  would  shoot.  An  Indian 
turned  to  fire  with  one  of  the  stolen  weapons,  and  in- 
stantly Lewis'  pistol  rang  true.  The  fellow  rolled  to 
earth  mortally  wounded  ;  but  Lewis  felt  the  whiz  of  a 
bullet  past  his  own  head.  Having  captured  more 
horses  than  they  had  lost,  the  white  men  at  once 
mounted  and  rode  for  their  lives  through  river  and 
slough,  sixty  miles  without  halt;  for  the  Minnetarees 
would  assuredly  rally  a  larger  band  of  warriors  to  their 
aid.  A  pause  of  an  hour  to  refresh  the  horses  and  a 
wilder  ride  by  moonlight  put  forty  more  miles  between 
Captain  Lewis  and  danger.  At  daylight  the  men 
were  so  sore  from  the  mad  pace  for  twenty-four  hours 
that  they  could  scarcely  stand  ;  but  safety  depended  on 
speed  and  on  they  went  again  till  they  reached  the 
main  Missouri,  where  by  singularly  good  luck  some  of 
the  other  voyageurs  had  arrived. 

The  entire  forces  were  reunited  below  the  Yellow- 
stone on  August  1 2th.     Traders  on  the  way  up  the 


232     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

Missouri  from  St.  Louis  brought  first  news  of  the 
outer  world,  and  the  discoverers  were  not  a  httle 
amused  to  learn  that  they  had  been  given  up  for  dead. 
At  the  Mandans,  Colter,  one  of  the  frontiersmen, 
asked  leave  to  go  back  to  the  wilds  ;  and  Chaboneau, 
with  his  dauntless  wife,  bade  the  white  men  farewell. 
On  September  20th  settlers  on  the  river  bank  above 
St.  Louis  were  surprised  to  see  thirty  ragged  men,  with 
faces  bronzed  like  leather,  passing  down  the  river.  Then 
some  one  remembered  who  these  worn  voyageurs  were, 
and  cheers  of  welcome  made  the  cliffs  of  the  Missouri 
ring.  On  September  23d,  at  midday,  the  boats  drew 
quietly  up  to  the  river  front  of  St.  Louis.  Lewis  and 
Clark,  the  greatest  pathfinders  of  the  United  States, 
had  returned  from  the  discovery  of  a  new  world  as 
large  as  half  Europe,  without  losing  a  single  man  but 
Sergeant  Floyd,  who  had  died  from  natural  causes  a 
few  months  after  leaving  St.  Louis.  What  Radis- 
son  had  begun  in  1 659-1 660,  what  De  la  Verendrye 
had  attempted  when  he  found  the  way  barred  by  the 
Rockies — was  completed  by  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1805. 
It  was  the  last  act  in  that  drama  of  heroes  who  carved 
empire  out  of  wilderness  ;  and  all  alike  possessed  the 
same  hero-qualities  —  courage  and  endurance  that  were 
indomitable,  the  strength  that  is  generated  in  life-and- 
death  grapple  with  naked  primordial  reality,  and  that 
reckless   daring  which   defies   life   and    death.      Those 


LEWIS    AND    CLARK  233 

were  hero-days  ;  and  they  produced  hero-types,  who 
flung  themselves  against  the  impossible  —  and  con- 
quered it.  What  they  conquered  we  have  inherited. 
It  is  the  Great  Northwest. 


APPENDIX 

For  the  very  excellent  translations  of  the  almost  untranslatable 
transcripts  taken  from  the  Marine  Archives  of  Paris,  and  forwarded 
to  me  by  the  Canadian  Archives,  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  R.  Roy,  of 
the  Marine  Department,  Ottawa,  the  eminent  authority  on  French 
Canadian  genealogical  matters. 

Some  of  the  topics  in  the  Appendices  are  of  such  a  controversial 
nature  —  the  whereabouts  of  the  Mascoutins,  for  instance  —  that  at 
my  request  Mr.  Roy  made  the  translation  absolutely  literal  no  matter 
how  incongruous  the  wording.  To  those  who  say  Radisson  was  not 
on  the  Missouri  I  commend  Appendix  E,  where  the  tribes  of  the  West 
are  described. 

APPENDIX  A 

Copy  of  Letter  written  to   M.   Comporte  by  M.   Chouart, 
AT  London,  the  29TH  April,  1685 
Sir, 

I  have  received  the  two  letters  with  which  you  have  honored  me  ; 
I  have  even  received  one  inclosed  that  I  have  not  given,  for  reasons 
that  I  will  tell  you,  God  willing,  in  a  few  days. 

I  have  received  your  instructions  contained  in  the  one  and  the  other, 
as  to  the  way  I  should  act,  and  I  should  not  have  failed  to  execute  all 
that  you  order  me  for  the  service  of  our  Master,  if  I  had  been  at  full 
liberty  so  to  do  ;  you  must  have  no  doubt  about  it,  because  my  in- 
clination and  my  duty  agree  perfectly  well.  All  the  advantages  that  I 
am  offered  did  not  for  a  moment  cause  me  to  waver,  but,  in  short,  sir, 
I  could  not  go  to  Paris,  and  I  shall  be  happy  to  go  and  meet  you  by 
the  route  you  travel.     I  shall  be  well  pleased  to  find  landed  the  people 

335 


i,:^6      PATHFINDERS    OF    THK    WEST 

vou  state  will  be  there  ;  in  case  they  may  have  the  commission  you 
speak  of  in  your  two  letters,  have  it  accompanied  if  you  please  with  a 
memorandum  of  what  I  shall  have  to  do  for  the  service  of  our  Master. 
I  know  of  a  case  whereby  I  am  sufficiently  taught  that  it  is  not  safe  to 
undertake  too  many  things,  however  advantageous  they  may  be,  nor 
undertaking  too  Httle.  I  am  convinced,  sir,  that  having  orders,  I  will 
carry  them  out  at  the  risk  of  my  life,  and  I  flatter  myself  that  you  do 
not  doubt  it. 

There  is  much  likelihood  that  the  men  you  sent  last  year  are  lost. 

I  should  like,  sir,  to  be  at  the  place  you  desire  me  to  go  ;  be  as- 
sured I  will  perish,  or  be  there  as  soon  as  I  possibly  can  ;  it  is  saying 
enough.  I  do  not  answer  to  the  rest  of  your  letter,  it  is  sufficient  that 
I  am  addressing  a  sensible  man,  who,  knowing  my  heart,  will  not 
doubt  that  I  will  keep  my  word  with  him,  as  I  believe  he  will  do  all 
he  can  for  my  interests. 

I  am,  with  much  anxiety  to  see  you,  sir,  your  most  humble  and 
most  obedient  servant, 

(signed)  CHOUART. 

I  will  leave  here  only  on  the  25th  of  next  month. 

APPENDIX  B 

Copy  of  Letter  written  by  M.   Chouart  to  Mrs.   des  Gro- 
seillers,  his  mother 

At  London,  i  ith  April,  1685. 
My  very  dear  Mother, 

I  learn  by  the  letter  you  have  written  me,  of  the  2nd  November 
last,  that  my  father  has  returned  from  France  without  obtaining  any- 
thing at  that  Court,  which  made  you  think  of  leaving  Quebec  ;  my 
sentiment  would  be  that  you  abandon  this  idea  as  I  am  strongly  de- 
termined to  go  and  be  by  you  at  the  first  opportunity  I  get,  which 
shall  be,  God  willing,  as  soon  as  I  have  taken  means  to  that  effect 
when  I  have  returned  from  the  North. 

I  hope  to  start  on  this  voyage  in  a  month  or  six  weeks  at  the  latest  ; 


APPENDIX 


337 


I  cannot  determine  on  what  date  I  could  be  near  you  ;  my  father  may 
know  what  difficulties  there  are.  However,  I  hope  to  surmount  them, 
and  there  is  nothing  I  would  not  do  to  that  end. 

The  money  I  left  with  my  cousin  is  intended  to  buy  you  a  house, 
as  I  have  had  always  in  mind  to  do,  had  not  my  father  opposed  it,  but 
now  I  will  do  it  so  as  to  give  you  a  chance  to  get  on,  and  always  see 
you  in  the  country  where  I  will  live. 

I  have  been  made,  here,  proposals  of  marriage,  to  which  I  have  not 
listened,  not  being  here  under  the  rule  of  my  king  nor  near  my  parents, 
and  I  would  have  left  this  kingdom  had  I  been  given  the  liberty  to  do 
so,  but  they  hold  back  on  me  my  pay  and  the  price  of  my  merchandise, 
and  I  cannot  sail  away  as  orders  have  been  given  to  arrest  me  in  case 
I  should  prepare  to  leave. 

What  you  fear  in  reference  to  my  money  should  not  give  you  any 
uneasiness  on  account  of  the  English.  I  will  cause  it  to  be  pretty  well 
known  that  I  never  intended  to  follow  the  English.  I  have  been  sur- 
prised and  forced  by  my  uncle's  subterfuges  to  risk  this  voyage  being 
unable  to  escape  the  English  vessels  where  my  uncle  made  me  go  with- 
out disclosing  his  plan,  which  he  has  worked  out  in  bringing  me  here, 
but  I  will  not  disclose  mine  either  :  to  abandon  this  nation.  I  am 
willing  that  my  cousin  should  pay  you  the  income  on  my  money,  until 
I  return  home.  M.  the  earl  of  Denonville,  your  governor,  will  see 
to  my  mother's  affairs,  as  they  who  render  service  to  the  country  will 
not  be  forsaken  as  in  the  past,  and  being  generous  as  he  is,  loyal  and 
zealous  for  his  country,  he  will  inform  the  Court  what  there  is  to  be 
done  for  the  benefit  of  our  nation. 

I  am,  my  dear  mother,  to  my  father  and  to  you, 

most  obedient  servant, 
(signed)  CHOUART. 

And  below  is  written  :  — 

Mother, 

I  pray  you  to  see  on  my  behalf  M.  du  Lude,  and  assure  him  of  my 
very  humble  services.  I  will  have  the  honor  of  seeing  him  as  soon  as 
I  can.      Please  do  the  same  with  M.  Peray  and  all  our  good  friends. 


338     PATHFINDERS   OF   THE   WEST 
APPENDIX  C 

COUNCIL 

Held  at  fort  Pontchartrain,  in 
lake  Erie  strait,  8th  June, 
1704. 

By  the  Indians  Kiskacous, 
Ottawa,  Sinagot  of  the  Sable 
Nation,  Hurons,  Saulteurs 
(Sault  Indians),  Amikoique 
(Amikoues),  Mississaugas, 
Nipissings,  Miamis  and 
Wolves,  in  the  presence  of 
M.  de  Lamothe-Cadillac,  com- 
manding at  the  said  fort ;  de 
Tonty,  captain  of  a  detach- 
ment of  Marines  ;  the  rev  F. 
Constantin,  Recollet  mission- 
ary at  the  said  post  ;  Messrs 
Desnoyers  and  Radisson,  prin- 
cipal clerks  of  the  Company 
of  the  Colony,  and  of  all  the 
French,  soldiers  as  well  as 
voyageurs. 
The  one  named  FORTY  SOLS,  (40  half-penny),  Indian  chief  of 

the  Huron  nation  speaks  as  much  on  behalf  of  the  said  nation  as  of  all 

those  present  at  the  meeting. 

**We  ask  that  all   the    French  be   present   at   this 

Council  so  that  they  hear  and  know  what  we  will  sav 
ing  come,  he 

said:-  t°yO"- 

"  We  are  well  on  this  land,  it  is  very  good,    and 

we  are  much  pleased  with  it;   listen  well,  father,  we  pray  you. 

"  Mrs  de  Tonty  went  away  last  year  ;   she  did  not  return  ;  we  see 

you  going  away  to-day,  father,  with  your  wife,  your  children  and  all 


APPENDIX  339 

the  Frenchwomen  as  well  as  that  of  M.  Radisson,  who  is  going  down 
with  you ;   that  reveals  to  us  that  you  abandon  us. 

"  We  are  angry  for  good  and  ill-disposed  if  the  women  go  away. 
We  pray  you  to  pay  attention  to  this  because  we  could  not  stop  you 
nor  your  young  men :  we  demand  that  Radisson  remains,  or  at  least, 
that  he  returns  promptly. 

By  a  Necklace  (Wampum) 

"  We  will  escort  your  wife  and  the  other  Frenchwomen  who  intend 
to  go  down  to  Montreal.      Now,  mind  well  what  we  are  asking  you. 

**  We  readily  see  that  the  Governor  is  a  liar,  as  he  does  not  keep 
to  what  he  has  promised  us ;  as  he  has  lied  to  us  we  will  lie  to  him 
also,  and  we  will  listen  no  more  to  his  word. 

**What  brings  that  man  here  (speaking  of  M.  Desnoyers)  ?  We 
do  not  know  him  and  do  not  understand  him  ;  we  are  ill-disposed. 
It  is  two  years  since  you  have  been  gathering  in  our  peltries,  part  of 
which  has  been  taken  down ;  we  will  allow  nothing  to  leave  until  the 
French  come  up  with  goods. 

By  another   Necklace 

*'  Father,  we  pray  you  to  send  back  that  man  (speaking  of  M. 
Desnoyers),  because  if  he  remains  here,  we  do  not  answer  for  his 
safety ;  our  people  have  told  us  that  he  despises  our  peltries  and  only 
wanted  beaver  ;  where  does  he  want  us  to  get  it.  We  absolutely 
want  him  to  go  ;  nothing  will  leave  the  house  where  the  trading  is 
done  and  where  the  peltries  and  bundles  are,  until  the  French  arrive 
here  with  merchandise  and  they  be  allowed  to  trade.  When  we 
came  here,  the  Governor  did  not  tell  us  that  the  merchants  would  be 
masters  over  the  merchandise ;  he  lied  to  us  ;  we  ask  that  all  the 
Frenchmen  trade  here  ;  we  pray  you  to  write  and  tell  him  what  we 
are  saying,  and  if  he  does  not  listen  to  us,  we  will  also  refuse  to  accept 
his  word. 

"  The  land  is  not  yours,  it  is  ours,  and  we  will  leave  it  to  go  where 
we  like  without  anybody  finding  fault.  We  regret  having  allowed 
the  surgeon  to  leave  as  we  apprehend  he  will  not  come  back. 


340     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

*<  We  pray  you  will  cause  to  remain  Gauvereau  the  blacksmith  and 
gunsmith. 

"  I  have  nothing  more  to  say,  I  have  spoken  for  all  the  nations 
here  present." 

M.  de  Lamothe  had  a  question  put  to  the  Ottawa  and  the  other 
nations,  if  that  was  their  sentiment ;  they  all  answered  :  Yes,  and  that 
they  were  of  one  and  the  same  mind.  He  told  them  that,  seeing  they 
had  taken  time  to  think  over  what  they  had  just  said,  he  would  con- 
sider as  to  what  he  had  to  answer  them,  and,  put  them  off  to  the 
morrow,  after  having  accepted  their  necklace. 

(Not  signed.) 


COUNCIL 


Held  at  fort  Pontchartrain,  in 
lake  Erie  strait,  the  9th  June, 
1704. 

By  the  indians  Kiskacous ; 
Ottawas  ;  Sinagotres,  the  Sable 
nation  ;  Hurons  ;  Sauteux 
(Sault  Ste  Marie  indians)  ; 
Amikoique  (Beaver  nation)  ; 
Mississaugas  ;  Miamis  and 
Wolves  in  the  presence  of 
M.  de  Lamothe-Cadillac,  com- 
manding at  the  said  fort ;  de 
Tonty,  captain  of  a  detach- 
ment of  Marines  ;  the  rev  F. 
Constantin,  Recollet  mission- 
ary at  the  said  post,  Messrs 
Desnoyers  and  Radisson,  prin- 
cipal clerks  of  the  Company 
of  the  Colony,  and  of  all  the 
French,  soldiers  as  well  as 
voyageurs. 


APPENDIX  341 

M.  de  Lamothe  addressed  all  the  said  nations  :  — - 

**  As  you    requested   me   to  pay  attention    to   your  words,   please' 
listen,  the  same,  to-day. 

"  I  was  aware  that  Mdme.  de  Tonty's  trip  to  Montreal  last  year  had 
given  you  umbrage,  because  she  did  not  come  back  ;  and  the  cause  of 
it  is  her  pregnancy. 

"  I  knew  also  that  my  wife's  setting  out  for  Montreal  as  also  the 
other  Frenchwomen  was  causing  you  uneasiness,  because  you  believed 
I  was  going  to  abandon  you.  It  is  true  she  was  going  away,  but  it 
was  not  for  ever.  I  showed  her  your  necklace  ;  that  her  children 
would  miss  her  very  much  and  that  they  begged  of  her  to  stay.  When 
she  heard  of  your  grief,  she  accepted  your  necklace  and  she  will  stay 
for  some  time,  because  she  does  not  like  to  refuse  her  children  ;  the 
other  Frenchwomen  wdll  remain  also. 

"You  spoke  ill  of  the  Governor  when  you  said  he  was  a  liar.  If 
anyone  told  you  that  he  was  forsaking  you,  I  will  be  pleased  if  you  will 
tell  me  who  it  is.      As  for  me  I  have  no  knowledge  of  it. 

"  M.  Desnoyers  was  present  when  you  offered  your  necklace,  and 
like  me  he  heard  your  statement.  He  told  me  you  were  wrong  to 
complain  about  him  because  he  would  not  take  your  peltries  and  that 
he  wanted  beaver  only  ;  you  are  complaining  inopportunely  seeing  that 
he  has  not  done  any  trading.  You  should  tell  me  who  made  those 
reports.  But  as  you  are  not  glad  to  see  him,  he  has  decided  to  go 
back,  and  as  I  am  going  down  to  Montreal  on  good  business,  he  will 
accompany  me,  and  also  M.  Radisson,  because  the  Governor  wants 
him,  and  he  must  obey,  and  we  will  arrange  so  that  we  come  back 
together. 

"You  have  asked  me  to  write  down  your  speech  to  the  Governor. 
I  will  be  the  bearer  of  it.  I  have  not  the  authority  to  have  the  French 
to  trade  here  ;  it  is  a  matter  that  M.  the  Governor  will  settle  with 
M.  the  Intendant. 

"The  Governor  did  not  lie  to  you  because  he  did  not  notify  you 
the  first  year,  that  the  merchants  w^ould  be  masters  of  the  mer- 
chandise, because   it  was   the   King  who   sent  it  here  then  and  I  could 


342      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

dispose  of  it  ;  since  then,  an  order  came  from  the  King  in  favor  of  the 
merchants. 

"This  land  is  mine,  because  I  am  the  first  one  who  lighted  a  fire 
thereon,  and  you  all  took  some  to  light  yours. 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  you  like  this  land,  and  that  you  find  it  is 
good. 

"It  is  of  no  consequence  that  the  surgeon  left,  because  when  one 
goes  another  comes,  and  the  same  applies  for  the  gunsmith. 

"  I  have  no  more  to  tell  you.  Here  is  some  tobacco  that  you  may 
all  smoke  together,  and  that  it  may  give  you  wisdom  until  I  return  and 
the  Governor  sends  you  his  word.  Attend  to  your  mother  during  my 
absence,  and  see  that  she  does  not  want  for  provisions,  for  if  you  do  not 
take  care  of  her,  on  my  return  I  will  not  give  you  a  drink  of  brandy. 

"  M.  de  Tonty  replaces  me  ;  I  pray  you  to  be  on  good  terms 
with  him." 

FORTY  SOLS,  chief  of  the  Hurons,  spoke  for  all  the  Indians  :  — 

"We  remember  well,  father,  of  what  we  said  yesterday  because 
you  repeat  it  to-day.  We  thank  you  for  having  listened  to  us  and 
granted  all  we  asked  you.  We  thank  the  women  for  not  going  away, 
because  their  remaining  is  as  if  you  remained.  From  to-morrow  we 
will  stimulate  our  young  men  to  go  after  provisions  for  our  mother. 

"It  is  three  years  ago,  when  in  Montreal  at  the  general  meeting 
our  chiefs  died,  the  governor  told  us  to  have  courage,  that  he  was 
sorry  for  us,  that  he  saw  we  were  very  far  to  come  and  get  goods  in 
Montreal,  and  he  invited  us  to  come  and  settle  around  you,  and  that 
he  would  send  us  merchandise  at  the  same  price  as  in  Montreal. 
This  worked  well  for  two  years,  but  goods  rose  up  too  much  in  price 
the  third  year. 

"  The  first  year  you  came,  we  were  very  happy,  but  now  we  are 
naked,  not  even  having  a  bad  shirt  to  put  on  our  back.  We  would  be 
pleased  by  the  establishment  of  several  stores  here,  because  if  we  were 
refused  in  one,  we  could  go  to  another. 

"  Wc  are  very  glad  of  M.  Dcsnoycrs'  going  back  because  we  do 
not  know  him  and  wc  fear  some  of  our  young  men  may  be  ill-disposed. 


APPENDIX 


343 


**  We  were  under  the  impression  the  Governor  had  sold  us  to  the 
merchants  since  they  are  the  masters  of  the  commerce. 

"It  is  true  that  we  took  of  your  fire  to  hght  ours  but  we  have 
waited  two  years  without  anything  coming  this  way  so  that  your  land 
is  ours.      I  told  the  same  thing  to  the  Governor  last  year  in  Montreal. 

"Have  courage,  father,  we  will  pray  God  for  you  during  your 
voyage  so  that  you  may  bring  back  good  news." 

(Not  signed.) 

APPENDIX   D 


ClE    DES    InDES 

(Indies  Co'y) 

Renders  account  to 
the  said  company  of 
the  death  of  Mr.  Rad- 
isson,  receiver  at  Mon- 
treal, of  the  nomina- 
tion ad  interim  of  Mr. 
Gamelin  to  fill  the 
vacancy  of  receiver,  of 
account  to  render  by 
Mr.  Duplessis,  heir 
of  Mr.  Radisson  to 
reestablish  price  of 
summer  beaver  as  be- 
fore ordinance  of  the 
^.th  January,  1733. 


At  Quebec,  the  25TH  October,  1735. 
Gentlemen, 

I  have  received  the  letter  you  did  me  the  honor 
to  send  me  of  the  9th  March  last. 

M.  Radisson,  your  receiver  at  Montreal,  died 
there  the  14th  of  June,  and  immediately  M. 
Gamelin,  merchant,  to  whom  Messrs  La  Gor- 
gendiere  and  Daine  had  given  three  years  ago,  had 
commissioned  to  look  after  your  interests  in  de- 
fault or  in  case  of  death  of  M.  Radisson,  applied  to 
M.  Michel,  my  sub-delegate  to  afiix  the  seals  on 
all  your  effects,  which  was  done  according  to  the 
account  rendered  you  by  Messrs.  La  Gorgendiere 
and  Daine. 

It  was  necessary  to  fill  the  vacancy.  I  have 
appointed  temporarily  in  virtue  of  the  authority, 
you  gave,  gentlemen,  the  same  M.  Gamelin  ;  I 
thought  I  could  not  have  your  interests  in  better 
hands,  as  much  for  his  honesty  than  his  intelligence 
in  regulating  his  sales  and  his  receipts.  Indepen- 
dently of  the  knowledge  he  has  of  the  different 
qualities  of  beaver,  I  have  had  the  honor  to  speak 
to  you  on  this  subject  in  my  preceding  letters  and 


344     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

to  say  that  the  only  obstacle  I  find  to  giving  him 
the  office  of  receiver  at   Montreal  was  his  quality 
-  of  merchant  outfitter  for  the  upper  country,  which 

might  render  him  suspicious  to  you  because  of  the 
returns  he  gets  in  beaver.  Although  I  have  a 
pretty  good  opinion  of  him  to  believe  his  loyalty 
proof  against  any  particular  interest,  you  shall  see, 
gentlemen,  by  the  copy  of  the  commission  I  have 
given  him,  which  is  sent  you,  that  it  is  on  condi- 
tion either  directly  or  indirectly  to  do  no  traffic  in 
the  upper  country,  and  to  confine  himself  either  to 
marine  trade  or  other  inland  commerce,  to  which 
he  has  agreed,  but  nevertheless  has  represented  to 
me  that  being  engaged  as  a  partner  with  M.  La- 
marque,  another  merchant,  for  the  working  out 
of  the  post  named  "the  Western  Sea"  and  that 
of  the  Sioux  ;  this  partnership  only  terminating  in 
1737;  that  he  was  looking  around  to  sell  his 
share,  but,  if  this  thing  was  impossible  requesting 
me  to  kindly  allow  him  to  continue  until  that  term, 
past  which  he  would  cease  all  commerce  in  the 
upper  country.  I  agreed  to  this  arrangement  on 
account  of  his  good  qualities,  and  this  will  not  turn 
to  any  account  of  consequence  ;  whatever,  selec- 
tion you  may  make,  gentlemen,  you  will  not  find 
a  better  one  in  this  country. 

M.  de  La  Gorgendiere  having  offered  me  his 
son  to  act  as  clerk  to  M.  Gamelin  and  comptroller 
in  the  Montreal  office,  for  the  auditing  to  be  made, 
without  increasing  on  that  score  the  expenditure  of 
your  administration,  I  have  consented  on  these 
conditions  ;  M.  Gamelin  to  give  him  800  Hvres 
(shillings)  on  the  commission  of  one  per  cent 
the  company  allow  the  receiver  at   Montreal,  and 


APPENDIX  345 

M.  Daine  has  assured  me  he  was  satisfied  with  his 
work. 

I  will  not  entertain,  you,  messieurs,  with  the 
discussion  of  the  account  to  be  rendered  by  M. 
Duplessis,  M.  Radisson's  heir,  to  your  agent, 
who  claims  he  owes  5  to  6000  livres.  Those 
discussions  did  not  take  place  in  my  presence. 

Most  of  the  beaver  shipped  this  year  were  put 
up  in  bundles,  and  shortage  in  cotton  cloth  for 
packing  prevented  shipment  of  the  whole. 

The  disturbances  which  have  occurred  for  some 
years  in  the  upper  country  have  effectively  pre- 
vented the  indians  from  hunting  ;  the  post  of  the 
Bay  which  abounds  ordinarily  with  beaver,  pro- 
duced nothing  ;  those  of  Detroit  and  Michilimaki- 
nac,  only  furnished  very  little.  Happily  the  post 
of  the  Sioux  and  of  the  Western  Sea  produced 
near  to  100,000  which  swelled  up  the  receipt  ; 
otherwise  it  would  have  been  very  middling. 

The  party  commanded  by  M.  Desnoyelles 
against  the  indians  Sakis  and  Foxes  was  not  as 
successful  as  expected  on  account  of  the  desertion 
and  retreat  of  100  Hurons  and  Iroquois  who  left 
him  when  at  the  Kakanons  (Kiskanons  of  Michili- 
makinac?)  without  his  being  able  to  hold  them,  so 
that  this  officer  found  himself  after  a  long  tramp 
at  those  indians'  fort,  not  only  inferior  in  numbers 
but  also  much  in  want  of  provisions.  He  was 
under  the  necessity  of  returning  after  a  rather 
sharp  skirmish  which  took  place  between  some  of 
his  men  and  the  enemy.  We  lost  two  French- 
men and  one  of  our  indians  ;  the  Foxes  and  Sakis 
lost  21  men,  either  killed,  wounded  or  captured. 

If  the  Sakis  come  back    to  the   Bay,    as   they 


J46     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

pledged  themselves  to  M.  Desnoyelles  we  are  in 
hopes  here  that  peace  will  again  flourish  and  con- 
sequently the  trade  of  the  upper  country. 

I  have  seen,  gentlemen,  what  you  were  pleased 
to  say  as  to  reduction  in  price  on  the  summer- 
beaver.  I  had  been  assured  by  reliable  persons 
that  this  reduction  might  become  very  injurious  to 
your  commerce.  I  have  learned  that  some  of  this 
kind  of  beaver  were  carried  to  the  English  who 
pay  two  livres  (shillings)  for  one  and  at  a  higher 
price  than  you  pay  over  your  counters.  It  was 
from  what  you  wrote  me  in  1732,  that  the  hatters 
could  make  no  use  of  that  beaver,  that  at  your  re- 
quest I  published  an  ordinance  of  the  4th  January, 
1733,  reducing  the  price  of  summer-beaver  either 
green  (gras)  or  dry  (sec)  to  ten  pence  a  pound, 
on  condition  that  it  should  be  burned.  There  could 
be  nothing  suspicious  in  that.  But  since  you  now 
deem  that  that  reduction  may  be  harmful,  as  I  have 
also  had  in  mind  to  invite  the  Indians  and  even 
the  French  under  this  pretence  to  take  the  good 
as  well  as  the  bad  beaver  to  the  English  ;  I  will 
restore  the  price  of  the  summer-beaver  as  it  was 
before  my  ordinance.  I  will  not  be  at  a  loss  for  a 
cause  :  it  is  not  in  your  interest  to  give  a  lower 
price.  You  run  your  commerce,  gentlemen,  with 
too  much  good  faith  to  give  rise  to  suspicion  that 
you  wished  for  a  reduction  in  price  to  10  pence 
for  this  kind  of  beaver,  and  having  it  burned  only 
to  procure  it  yourself  at  that  price  and  not  burn 
it.  Besides,  the  quantity  received  is  too  small  a 
matter  to  deserve  consideration. 

M.  the  marquis  dc  Beauharnois  and  I  have  re- 
ceived   the  orders  of  the  King  with  reference  to 


APPENDIX  347 

Beaver  hats  half  beaver  hats  half  worked  made  in  Canada.  His 
worked  made  in  the  Majesty  has  ordered  us  to  break  up  the  workmen's 
coun  ry.  benches  and  to  prevent  any  manufacture  of  hats. 

We  have  made  some  representations  on  this  subject, 
to  those  made  to  us,  namely  by  a  man  named 
,  hatter,  and  your  receiver  at  Quebec. 
It  is  true  that  the  making  of  beaver  hats  half 
worked  and  other  for  export  to  France  could  turn 
out  of  consequence  in  ruining  your  privilege  and 
the  hat  establishments  in  France.  These  are  the 
only  inconveniences,  to  my  mind,  to  be  feared,  as 
I  do  not  look  upon  such,  the  making  of  hats  for 
the  use  of  residents  of  the  country.  So  that  we 
have  satisfied  ourselves,  until  further  orders,  to  for- 
bid the  going,  out  of  the  colony,  of  all  kind  of 
hats,  as  you  will  see  by  the  ordinance  we  have 
published  together,  M.  the  General  and  I.  If  we 
had  been  more  strict,  the  three  hatters  established 
in  this  colony,  who  know  no  other  business  than 
their  trade,  the  man  amongst  others, 

who  follow  that  calling  from  father  to  son,  would 
have  been  reduced  to  begging. 

The  quantity  of  hats  they  will  manufacture 
when  export  is  stopped,  cannot  be  of  any  injury 
to  the  manufactures  of  the  kingdom  and  be  but  of 
small  matter  to  your  commerce.  Moreover,  I  am 
aware  that  these  hatters  employ  the  worst  kind  of 
beaver,  which  they  get  very  cheap,  and  your  stores 
at  Paris  are  that  much  rid  of  them. 

The  cloths  you  sent  this  year  are  of  better 
Defects  in  list  of  cloth  quality  than  the  precedding  shipment.  Messrs 
^^"^-  La   Gorgendiere,   Daine    and    Gamelin    have   ob- 

served   on    defects    which    happen    in    the    lists ; 
they   told    me    they  would  inform  you. 


348      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

I  have  the  honor  to  thank  you,  gentlemen. 
Remittance  of  300  for  the  remittance  ot  300  livres  you  were  pleased 
livres    (shillings)    to     jq  grant  to   M,    the   Baron  of  Longueuil,  on  my 

the     Baron    de    Lon-  j   ^• 

recommendation, 
gueuil. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  prevent  the  Indians  going 

to  Chouaguen  ;   the  brandy  that  the  English  give 
out  freely  is  an  invincible  attraction. 

I  have  heard,  the  same  as  you,  that  some 
Frenchmen  disguised  as  Indians  had  been  there  ;  if 
I  can  discover  some  one,  you  may  be  sure  that  I 
will  deal  promptly  with  them.  You  may  have 
heard  that  the  man  LENOIR,  resident  of  Mon- 
treal, having  gone  to  England  three  years  ago 
without  leave,  I  have  kept  him  in  prison  till  he  had 
settled  the  fine  he  was  condemned  to  pay,  and 
which  I  transferred  to  the  hospitals.  I  add  that 
a  part  of  the  interest  you  have  in  the  indians  not 
going  to  Chouaguen,  I  have  another  on  account  of 
the  trading  carried  on  for  the  benefit  of  the  King 
at  Niagara  and  at  fort  Frontenac  which  that  English 
post  has  ruined.  By  all  means  you  may  rely  on 
my  attention  to  break  up  Enghsh  trade.  I  fear  I 
may  not  succeed  in  this  so  long  as  the  brandy  traffic, 
although  moderate,  will  find  adversaries  among 
those  who  govern  consciences. 

I  will  do  my  best  to  prevent  the  beaver  which 
Foreign  trade  ;  Beaver  is  traded  at  Labrador  and  the  other  posts  in  the 
at  trade  at  Labrador.  lower  part  of  the  River  to  be  smuggled  to  France 
by  ships  from  Bayonne,  St  Malo  and  Marseille. 
This  will  be  difficult  as  we  cannot  have  at  those 
posts  any  inspector.  I  will  try,  however,  to  give 
an  ordinance  so  as  to  prevent  that,  which  may 
intimidate  some  of  those  who  carry  on  that  com- 
merce. 


APPENDIX 


349 


Asks  for  continuation 
of  gratuity  received 
by  Mr.  Michel,  even 
to  increase  it. 


It  is  true  that  the  commandants  of  the  upper 
country  posts  have  relaxed  in  the  sending  of  the 
declarations  made  or  to  be  made  by  the  voyageurs 
as  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  bundles  of 
beaver  they  take  down  to  Montreal.  M.  the 
General  and  I  have  renewed  the  necessary  orders 
on  this  subject  so  that  the  commandants  shall  con- 
form to  them. 

M.  Michel,  my  subdelegate  at  Montreal  has 
received  the  bounty  of  500  livres  you  have  re- 
quested your  agent  to  pay  to  him  ;  he  hopes  that 
you  will  be  pleased  to  have  it  continued  next  year. 
I  have  the  honor  to  pray  you  to  do  so,  and  even 
augment  it,  if  possible.  I  can  assure  you,  gentle- 
men that  he  lends  himself  on  all  occasions  to  all 
that  may  concern  your  commerce.  As  for  myself, 
I  am  very  flattered  by  the  opinion  you  entertain 
that  I  have  at  heart  your  interests.  I  always  feel 
a  true  satisfaction  in  renewing  you  these  assurances. 
I  am,  respectfully. 


Thanks  for  the  coffee 

sent. 


Gentlemen,  M.  de  La  Gorgendiere  has  de- 
livered to  me  on  your  behalf,  a  bale  of  Moka  coiFee. 
I  am  very  sensible,  gentlemen,  to  this  token  ot 
friendship  on  your  part. 

I  have  the  honor  to  thank  you,  and  to  assure 
you  that  I  am  very  truly  and  respectfully,  etc. 
(signed)  HOCQUART. 


350     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

APPENDIX   E 

MEMORANDUM    RE    CANADA 

(No  locality)  1697 

All  the  discoveries  in  America  were  only  made  step  by  step  and 
little  by  little,  especially  those  of  lands  held  by  the  French  in  that  part 
of  the  North. 

It  being  certain  that  during  the  reign  of  king  Francis  I,  several  of 
his  subjects,  amateurs  of  shipping  and  of  discoveries,  in  imitation  of  the 
Portuguese  and  the  Spaniards,  made  the  voyage,  where  they  found  the 
great  cod  bank.  The  quality  of  birds  frequenting  this  sea  where  they 
always  find  food,  caused  them  to  heave  the  lead,  and  bottom  was  found 
and  the  said  great  bank. 

He  got  an  opinion  on  the  nearest  lands,  and  other  curious  persons 
desired  to  go  farther,  and  discovered  Cape  Breton,  Virginia  and  Florida. 
Some  even  inhabited  and  took  possession  of  the  divers  places,  aban- 
doned since,  through  misunderstanding  of  the  commanders  and  their 
poor  skill  in  knowing  how  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  Indians  of 
those  countries,  who,  good  natured  all  at  the  beginning,  could  not 
suffer  the  rigor  with  which  it  was  wanted  to  subjugate  them,  so  that 
after  a  short  occupation,  they  left  to  return  to  Europe.  And  since,  the 
Spaniards  and  the  English  successfully  have  taken  possession  of  the  land 
and  all  the  coasts  that  the  said  English  have  kept  until  this  day  to  much 
advantage,  so  that  Frenchmen  who  have  returned  since  have  been 
obliged  to  settle  at  Cape  Breton  and  Acadia. 

About  the  year  i  540,  the  said  Cape  Breton  was  fortified  by  Jacques 
Cartier,  captain  of  St  Malo,  who  afterward  entered  the  river  St.  Law- 
rence up  to  7  or  8  leagues  above  Quebec,  where  desiring  to  know  more, 
the  season  also  being  too  far  advanced  he  stopped  off  to  winter  at  a 
small  river  which  bears  his  name  and  which  forms  the  boundary  of 
M.  dc  Becancourt's  land  whom  he  knew  ;  he  made  sociable  a  number 
of  indians  who  came  aboard  his  ship  and  brought  back  beaver  pretty 
abundantly. 


APPENDIX  351 

Since,  he  made  another  voyage  with  Saintonge  men  which  did  not 
prevent  several  other  ships  to  go  after  the  said  beaver  ;  men  from  Dieppe, 
Brittany  and  La  Rochelle,  some  with  a  passport  and  others  by  fraud 
and  piracy,  especially  the  latter,  the  Civil  war  having  carried  away 
persons  out  of  dutifulness,  the  Admiralty  and  the  Marine  being  then 
held  in  very  little  consideration,  which  lasted  a  long  time. 

However,  I  believe  for  having  heard  it  said,  that  the  lands  after  new 
discoveries  were  given  since  to  M.  Chabot  or  to  M.  Ventadour, 
where  a  certain  gentleman  from  Saintonge  named  M.  du  Champlain, 
had  very  free  admittance  and  who  may  have  mingled  with  those  of  his 
country  who  had  navigated  with  Cartier  and  had  given  him  a  longing 
to  see  that  of  which  he  had  only  heard  speak. 

He  was  a  proper  man  for  such  a  scheme  ;  a  great  courage,  wisdom, 
sensible,  pious,  fair  and  of  great  experience  ;  a  robust  body  which  would 
render  him  indefatigable  and  capable  to  resist  hunger,  cold  and  heat. 

This  gentleman  then  solicited  permission  to  come  to  Canada  and  ob- 
tained it.  His  small  estate  and  his  friends  supplied  him  with  a  medium 
sized  vessel  for  the  passage.  This  new  commandant  or  governor  pitied 
much  the  Indians  and  had  the  satisfaction  at  his  arrival  to  see  that  he 
was  much  feared  and  loved  by  them.  He  took  memoranda  through 
his  interpreter  of  their  wars,  their  mode  of  living  and  of  their  interests. 
At  that  time  they  were  numerous  and  proud  of  the  great  advantages  they 
had  over  the  Iroquois,  their  enemy.  With  this  information  he  re- 
crossed  to  France;  gave  an  account  of  his  voyage,  and  was  so  charmed 
with  the  land,  the  climate  and  of  the  good  which  would  result  from  a 
permanent  estabhshment  that  he  persuaded  his  wife  to  accompany  him. 
His  example  induced  missionaries  of  St  Francois  and  some  parisian 
families  to  follow  him.  He  was  granted  a  commission  or  governor's 
provisions  to  take  his  living  from  the  country. 

He  erected  a  palissade  fort  at  the  place  now  occupied  by  the  fort 
St  Louis  of  Quebec. 

To  please  the  Indians  he  went  with  them  and  three  Frenchmen 
only,  warring  in  the  Iroquois  country,  which  has  no  doubt  given  rise 
to  our  quarrel  with  this  nation. 


3S^ 


PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 


The  Commerce  was  then  in  the  hands  of  the  Rochelois  (?)  who 
suppHed  some  provisions  to  the  said  M.  de  Champlain,  a  man  without 
interest  and  disposed  to  be  content  with  little. 

He  returns  to  France  in  the  interests  of  the  country  and  took  back 
Madam  his  wife  who  died  in  a  Ursuline  convent,  at  Saintes,  I  believe, 
and  he  at  Quebec,  after  having  worked  hard  there,  with  little  help 
because  of  the  misfortunes  of  France. 

M.  the  Cardinal  of  Richelieu  have  inspired  France  with  confidence 
by  the  humiliation  of  the  Rochelois  (?)  wanted  to  take  care  of  the 
marine  and  formed  at  that  time,  about  1626  or  1627  what  was  then 
called  the  "Society  of  One  Hundred,"  in  which  joined  persons  of  all 
qualifications,  and  also  merchants  from  Dieppe  and  Rouen.  Dieppe 
was  then  reputed  for  good  navigators  and  for  navigation. 

The  said  M.  the  Cardinal  got  granted  to  the  said  company  the 
islands  of  St  Christophe,  newly  discovered  and  all  the  lands  of  Canada. 
The  Company  composed  of  divers  states  did  not  take  long  to  disjoin, 
and  of  this  great  Company  several  were  formed  by  themselves,  the 
ones  concerning  themselves  about  the  Isles  and  the  others  about  Canada, 
where  they  were  also  divided  up  in  a  Company  of  Miscou,  which  is 
an  island  of  the  Bay  in  the  lower  part  of  the  River,  where  all  the 
Indians  meet,  and  a  Company  of  Tadoussac  or  Quebec. 

The  Basques,  Rochelois,  Bretons,  and  Normans,  who  during  the 
disorders  of  the  war  had  commenced  secretly  on  the  River,  crossed  their 
commerce  much  by  the  continuation  of  their  runs  without  passport. 
Sometimes  on  pretext  of  cod  or  whale  fishing,  notwithstanding  the 
interdiction  of  decrees,  the  gain  made  them  risk  everything,  as  the  two 
sides  of  the  river  were  all  settled  and  many  more  came  down  from 
inland. 

Those  Companies  for  being  badly  served  on  account  of  inexperience 
and  through  poor  economy,  as  will  happen  at  the  beginning  of  all 
affairs,  were  put  to  large  expenses. 

The  English  had  already  seized  on  Boston  abandoned  by  the  French 
after  their  new  discovery  ;  beaver  and  elk  peltry  were  much  sought 
after  and   at   a   very  high    price   in    luiropc  ;   they    could   be   had   for   a 


APPENDIX 


3  S3 


needle,  a  hawk-bell  or  a  tin  looking-glass,  a  marked  copper  coin. 
Our  possession  was  there  very  well-off.  The  English  who  made  war 
to  us  in  France,  also  made  it  in  Canada,  and  began  to  take  the  fleet 
about  He  Percee,  as  it  was  ascending  to  Quebec. 

As  four  or  five  vessels  came  every  year  loaded  with  goods  for  the 
indians,  it  was  at  that  time  quantity  of  peas,  plums,  raisins,  figs  and 
others  and  provisions  for  M.  de  Champlain  ;  a  garrison  of  i  5  or  20 
men  ;  a  store  in  the  lower  town  where  the  clerks  of  the  Company 
lived  with  10  or  12  families  already  used  to  the  country.  This  suc- 
cor failing,  much  hardship  was  endured  in  a  country  which  then 
produced  nothing  by  itself,  so  that  the  English  presenting  themselves 
the  next  year  with  their  fleet,  surrender  was  obligatory ;  the  governor 
and  the  Recollets  crossed  over  to  France  and  the  families  were  treated 
honestly  enough. 

Happily  in  1628  or  1629,  France  made  it  up  with  England  and 
the  treaty  gave  back  Canada  to  the  French,  when  M.  de  Champlain, 
returned  and  died  some  years  later. 

Those  of  the  Company  of  100,  who  were  persons  of  dignity  and 
consideration,  living  in  Paris,  thought  fit  to  leave  the  care  and  benefits 
of  commerce  for  Canada  with  the  Rouen  and  Dieppe  merchants,  with 
whom  joined  a  few  from  Paris.  They  were  charged  with  the  payment 
of  the  governor's  appointments,  to  furnish  him  with  provisions  and 
subsistence  and  to  keep  up  the  garrisons  of  Quebec  and  Three-Rivers 
where  there  was  also  a  post  on  account  of  the  large  number  of  indians 
calling ;  to  furnish  the  things  necessary  for  the  war  ;  to  pay  themselves 
off  the  product  and  give  account  of  the  surplus  to  the  directors  of  the 
Company  who  had  an  office  at  Paris. 

It  has  been  said  that  Dieppe  and  Rouen  benefitted  and  that  Paris 
suffered  and  was  disgusted. 

To  M.  de  Champlain  succeeded  M.  de  Montmagny,  very  wise 
and  very  dignified  ;  knight  of  Malta  ;  relative  of  M.  de  Poinsy,  who 
commanded  at  the  Island  of  St  Christophe  where  the  said  M.  de 
Montmagny  died  after  leaving  Canada  after  a  sojourn  of  14  or  15 
years,  loved  and  cherished  by  the  French  and  the  natives  —  we  say  the 
2  A 


354      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

French,  although  the  complaints  made  against  him  by  the  principals 
were  the  cause  of  his  sorrow  and  he  resigned  voluntarily. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  all  the  commerce  was  done  at  Rouen  to 
go  out  through  Dieppe  on  the  hearsay  and  the  fine  connections  that  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  who  had  taken  the  Recollets'  place,  took  great  care  to 
have  printed  and  distributed  every  year. 

Canada  was  in  vogue  and  several  families  from  Normandy  and  the 
Perche  took  sail  to  come  and  reside  in  it ;  there  were  nobles,  the  most 
of  them  poor,  we  might  say,  who  found  out  from  the  first,  that  M. 
de  Montmagny  was  too  disinterested  to  be  willing  to  consider  the 
change  thev  desired  for  their  advantage.  They  intrigued  against  him 
five  or  six  families  without  the  participation  of  the  others,  got  leave 
from  him  to  go  to  France  to  ask  for  favors  and  there  had  one  of  them- 
selves as  governor ;  obtained  liberty  in  the  beaver  trade,  which  until 
then  had  been  strictly  forbidden  to  the  inhabitants  who  had  been 
reserved  the  fruits  of  the  country  to  advance  the  culture  of  the  land 
such  as  pease,  Indian  corn,  and  wheat  bread.  That  was  the  first  title 
of  the  inhabitants  to  trade  with  the  Indians. 

To  arrive  at  that  end  they  promised  to  pay  annually  looo  beaver 
to  the  Paris  office  for  its  seignorial  right  "which  it  did  not  receive 
through  its  attention  and  management  of  its  affairs. 

They  got  permission  to  form  a  Board  from  their  principal  men,  to 
transact  with  the  governor  all  matters  in  the  country  for  peace,  for  war, 
the  settlement  of  accounts  of  their  society  or  little  republic,  and  also 
sitting  on  cases  concerning  interests  of  private  individuals. 

It  was  then  that  to  keep  up  this  sham  republic  or  society,  a  tax  of 
one-fourth  was  imposed  on  the  export  of  beaver. 

By  these  means  the  authority  of  the  Company  and  its  store  were 
ruined  and  the  whole  was  turning  to  the  advantage  of  those  four  or 
six  families,  the  others,  cither  poor  or  slighted  by  the  authority  of 
M,  D' Ailleboust,  their  governor. 

On  this  footing  it  was  not  hard  for  them  to  find  large  credit  at 
La  Rochcllc,  because  loans  were  made  in  the  name  of  the  Com- 
munity,   although    it    consisted    only    of   these    four   or    six    families  ; 


APPENDIX  ,2SS 

which  from  their  being  poor  found  themselves  in  large  managements 
enlarged  their  household,  ran  into  expense,  that  of  their  vessels  and 
shipments  was  excessive  and  the  wealth  derived  from  the  beaver  was 
to  pay  all. 

Their  bad  management  altered  their  credit  and  brought  them  to 
agree,  after  several  years'  enjoyment  so  as  not  to  pay  La  Rochelle,  to 
take  their  ships  to  Havre-de-Grace,  where,  on  arrival  they  sold 
to  Messrs  Lick  and  Tabac  ;  this  perfidy  which  they  excused  because 
of  the  large  interest  taken  from  them,  alarmed  La  Rochelle  who  com- 
plained to  Paris,  and  after  much  pressing  a  trustee  was  appointed  to 
give  bonds  in  the  name  of  the  society  for  large  sums  yet  due  to  the  city 
of  La  Rochelle. 

Their  vessels  all  bore  off  to  Normandy  ;  they  took  on  their  car- 
goes there  in  part,  and  part  at  La  Rochelle,  the  trade  having  been 
allowed  those  two  places,  because  Rouen  and  Dieppe  had  several  per- 
sons on  the  roll  of  the  Company  and  obligation  was  due  La  Rochelle 
for  having  loaned  property. 

The  governor  and  the  families  addressed  reproaches  to  each  other, 
and  the  King  being  pleased  to  listen  to  them,  had  the  kindness  to  ap- 
point from  the  body  of  the  company  persons  of  first  dignity  to  give 
attention  to  what  was  going  on  in  this  colony,  who  were  called  Com- 
missioners ;  they  were  Messrs  de  Morangis,  de  la  Marguerid,  Vertha- 
mont  and  Chame,  and  since,  Messrs  de  Lamoignon,  de  Boucherat 
and  de  Lauzon,  the  latter  also  of  the  body  of  the  Company  offered  to 
pass  over  to  this  country  to  arrange  the  difficulties,  and  he  asked  for  its 
government,  which  was  accorded  him. 

He  embarked  at  La  Rochelle  because  of  the  obligation  of  the  cred- 
itors of  that  city  to  treat  him  gently  ;  Rouen  did  not  care  much.  He 
was  a  literary  man  ;  he  made  friends  with  the  R.  F.  Jesuits,  and 
created  a  new  council  in  virtue  of  the  powers  he  had  brought,  rebuke 
the  one  and  the  other  place,  even  the  inhabitants,  in  forbidding  them 
to  barter  in  what  was  called  the  limits  of  Tadoussac,  which  he  bounded 
for  a  particular  lease  as  a  security  for  his  payment  and  of  what  has 
always  since  been  called  the  offices  of  the  country  or  the  state  of  the 


3s6     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

33,000  livres  ;  the  emoluments  of  the  Councillors,  the  garrison,  the 
Jesuits,  the  Parish,  the  Ursulines,  the  Hote-Dieu,  etc. 

The  pretext  given  was  that  the  Iroquois  having  burned  and  ruined 
the  Hurons  or  Ottawa,  the  tax  of  one-fourth  did  not  produce  enough 
to  meet  those  demands,  and  because  Tadoussac  also  was  not  sufficient 
to  meet  all  the  expenditure  contemplated  to  give  war  to  the  Iroquois,  he 
it  was  also  who  began  in  not  paying  the  thousand  weight  in  beaver 
owing  for  seignorial  right  to  the  Company  who  was  irritated  and 
blamed  his  conduct,  and  after  the  lapse  of  some  years  his  friends  write 
him  they  could  not  longer  shield  him  he  anticipated  his  recall  in  return- 
ing to  France,  where  he  has  since  served  as  sub-dean  of  the  Council, 
residing  at  the  cloister  of  Notre-Dame  with  his  son,  canon  at  the  said 
church. 

I  only  saw  him  two  years  in  Canada  where  he  was  hardly  liked,  by 
reason  of  the  little  care  he  took  to  keep  up  his  rank,  without  servant, 
living  on  pork  and  peas  like  an  artisan  or  a  peasant. 

However,  having  decided  to  go  back,  for  a  second  time  he  threw 
open  the  Tadoussac  trade,  by  an  order  of  his  Council. 

M.  de  Lamoignon,  the  first  president,  got  named  to  replace  him, 
M.  D'Argenson,  young  man  of  30  to  32  years  steady  as  could  be, 
who  remained  tour  or  five  years  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody  ;  he 
kept  up  the  Council  as  it  is  intended  for  the  security  of  his  emoluments 
and  of  the  garrison,  selected  twelve  of  the  most  notable  persons  to 
whom  he  gave  the  faculty  of  trading  at  Tadoussac  and  all  the  sureties 
to  be  wished  for  the  administration  and  maintenance. 

He  had  the  misfortune  to  fall  out  with  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  they, 
with  messieurs  de  Mont  Royal,  of  St  Sulpice  who  had  sent  Mr 
the  abbey  de  Queysac,  in  the  hope  of  making  a  bishop  of  him  ;  the 
former  wishing  to  have  one  of  their  nomination  presented  to  the  Queen- 
mother  of  the  reigning  King,  whom  God  preserve,  M.  de  Laval,  to- 
day elder  and  first  bishop,  who,  very  rigid,  not  only  backed  the  Jesuits 
against  the  governor  in  all  difficulties  but  specially  in  the  matter  of  the 
liquor  traffic  with  the  Indians.  Although  (D'Argenson)  a  much  God- 
fearing-man  he  had  his    private   opinions,   and   this   offended  him  ;   he 


APPENDIX  357 

asked  M.  de  Lamoignon  for  his  recall,  which  was  done  in  1661,  when 
M.  d'Avaugour  came  out. 

It  was  in  1660  that  the  Office  in  Paris,  at  the  request  of  the  gov- 
efnor,  of  the  Local  council  and  on  the  advice  of  Messrs  de  Lamoignon, 
Chame  and  other  commissioners  made  an  agreement  with  the  Rouen 
merchants  to  supply  the  inhabitants  with  all  goods  they  would  require 
with  dofjc  profit  on  dry  goods  and  100%  on  liquors,  freight  paid. 

It  was  pretended  that  the  country  was  not  safely  secured  by  ships 
of  private  parties,  and  that  when  they  arrived  alone  by  unforeseen  ac- 
cidents, they  happened  unexpectedly,  to  the  ruin  of  the  country  ;  as 
well  as  the  beaver  fallen  to  a  low  price  and  which  was  restored  only 
at  the  marriage  of  the  king  should  keep  up. 

The  creditors  then  pressing  payment  of  their  claims,  a  decree  or- 
dered that  of  the  60'^,  10%  should  be  taken  for  the  payment  of 
debts  which  were  fixed  at  10,000  livres  at  the  rate  of  the  consump- 
tion of  the  time  and  of  which  the  Company  of  Normandy  took  charge. 

The  country  was  favorable  enough  to  this  treaty  because  they  were 
well  served,  but  when  the  treaty  arrived  at  first,  the  bishop  who  was 
jealous  because  he  had  not  been  consulted  and  that  some  little  gratifica- 
tion had  been  given  to  facilitate  matters  had  it  opposed  by  some  of  the 
inhabitants  and  by  M.  D'Avaugour,  governor  in  the  place  of  the  said 
D'Argenson. 

The  Society  of  Normandy  consented  to  the  breaking  off  of  the  treaty 
on  receiving  a  minute  account  and  being  paid  some  compensation,  as  to 
which  they  had  no  satisfaction  because  of  the  changes,  for  M.  D'Avau- 
gour, like  the  others,  fell  out  with  the  Bishop  who  went  to  France  and 
had  him  revoked,  presenting  in  his  stead  M.  de  Mezy,  a  Norman 
gentleman  who  did  nothing  better  than  to  overdo  all  the  difficulties  arising 
on  the  question  of  the  Bishop  and  the  Governor's  powers. 

The  beaver  dropped  down,  as  soon,  to  a  low  price,  and  there  was  a 
difference  by  half  when  the  King  in  1664  formed  the  Company  of  the 
West  Indies,  which  alone,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  had  to  supply 
the  country  with  merchandise  and  receive  also  all  the  beaver  ;  in  1669, 
came  M.  de  Tracy,  de  Courcelles  and  Talon  ;  the  latter  did  not  want 


358      PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

any  Company  and  employed  all  kinds  of  ways  to  ruin  the  one  he  found 
established.  He  gave  to  understand  to  M.  Colbert  that  this  country 
was  too  big  to  be  bounded  ;  that  there  should  come  out  of  it  fleets  and 
armies  ;  his  plans  appeared  too  broad,  still  he  met  with  no  contradiction 
at  first,  on  the  contrary  he  was  lauded,  which  moved  him  to  establish  a 
large  trade  and  put  out  that  of  the  company,  which  through  bad  success 
in  its  affairs  at  the  Isles,  was  relaxing  enough  of  itself  in  all  sorts  of 
undertakings. 

M.  Talon  desiring  to  bring  together  the  government  and  the  super- 
intendence was  spending  on  a  large  scale  to  make  friends  and  therefore 
there  was  not  a  merchant  when  the  Company  quit  who  could  transact 
any  business  in  his  presence  ;  he  gets  his  goods  free  of  dues,  freight  and 
insurance  ;  he  also  refused  to  pay  the  import  tax  on  his  wines,  liquors 
and  tobacco. 

Finally  his  friends  or  enemies  told  him  aloud  that  it  was  of  profits  of 
his  commerce  that  the  King  would  be  enriched. 

Thev  fell  out,  M.  de  Courcelles  and  he  ;  their  misunderstanding 
forced  the  first  to  ask  for  his  discharge.  M.  de  Frontenac,  who  suc- 
ceeded him  also  complained  and  I  believe  he  returned  to  France  without 
his  conge  whence  he  never  came  back  although  he  had  promised  so  to 
all  his  friends. 

You  are  aware  as  well  as  and  perhaps  better  than  I  of  the  disputes 
of  M.  de  Frontenac  and  M.  du  Chesneau. 

And  that  is  all  I  have  been  told  for  my  satisfaction  of  what  occurred 
previous  to  1655  when  I  came  here  to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  the 
Rouen  Company. 

I  have  also  learned  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  that  properlv  speaking, 
though  there  were  a  very  large  number  of  Indians,  known  under  divers 
names,  which  they  bear  with  reference  to  certain  action  that  their  chiefs 
had  performed  or  with  reference  to  lakes,  rivers,  lands  or  mountains 
which  they  inhabit,  or  sometimes  to  animals  stocking  their  rivers  and 
forests,  nevertheless  thev  coultl  all  be  comprised  under  two  mother  lan- 
guages, to  wit  :    the  Huron  and  the  Algonquin. 

At  that  period,  I  was  told,  the  Huron  was  the  most  spread  over  men 


APPENDIX  359 

and  territory,  and  at  present,  I  believe,  that  the  Algonquin  can  well  be 
compared  to  it. 

To  note,  that  all  the  Indians  of  the  Algonquin  language  are  stationed 
and  occupy  land  that  we  call  land  of  the  North  on  account  of  the  River 
which  divides  the  country  into  two  parts,  and  where  they  all  live  by 
fishing  and  hunting. 

As  well  as  the  Indians  of  the  Huron  language  who  inhabit  land  to 
the  South,  where  they  till  the  land  and  winter  wheat,  horse-beans, 
pease,  and  other  similar  seeds  to  subsist  ;  they  are  sedentary  and  the 
Algonquin  follow  fish  and  game. 

However,  this  nation  has  always  passed  for  the  noblest,  proudest  and 
hardest  to  manage  when  prosperous.  When  the  French  came  here  the 
true  Algonquin  owned  land  from  Tadoussac  to  Quebec,  and  I  have 
always  thought  they  were  issued  from  the  Saguenay.  It  was  a  tradition 
that  they  had  expelled  the  Iroquois  fi-om  the  said  place  of  Quebec  and 
neighborhood  where  they  once  lived  ;  we  were  shown  the  sites  of  their 
villages  and  towns  covered  by  trees  of  a  fresh  growth,  and  now  that  the 
lands  are  of  value  through  cultivation,  the  farmers  find  thereon  tools, 
axes  and  knives  as  they  were  used  to  make  them. 

We  must  believe  that  the  said  Algonquin  were  really  masters  over 
the  said  Iroquois,  because  they  obliged  them  to  move  away  so  far. 

Nobody  could  tell  me  anything  certain  about  the  origin  of  their  war 
but  it  was  of  a  more  cruel  nature  between  these  two  nations  than  between 
the  said  Iroquois  and  Hurons,  who  have  the  same  language  or  nearly  so. 

It  is  only  known  that  the  Iroquois  commenced  first  to  burn,  impor- 
tuned by  their  enemies  who  came  to  break  their  heads  whilst  at  work  in 
their  wilderness  ;  they  imagined  that  such  cruel  treatment  would  give 
them  relaxation,  and  since,  all  the  nations  of  this  continent  have  used 
fire,  with  the  exception  of  the  Abenakis  and  other  tribes  of  Virginia. 

These  Iroquois  having  had  the  best  of  the  fight  and  reduced  the 
Algonquins  since  our  discovery  of  this  country,  principally  because  their 
pride  giving  us  apprehension  about  their  large  number,  they  would  not 
arm  themselves  until  a  long  time  after  the  Dutch  had  armed  the  Iroquois, 
made  war  and  ruined  all   the  other  nations  who  were  not  nearly  so 


360     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE    WEST 

warlike  as  the  Algonquin,  and  after  the  war,  diseases  came  on  that  killed 
those  remaining  ;  some  have  scattered  in  the  woods,  but  in  comparison 
to  what  I  have  seen  on  my  arrival,  one  might  say  that  there  are  no 
more  men  in  this  country  outside  of  the  fastnesses  of  the  forests  recently 
discovered. 

The  Hurons  before  their  defeat  by  the  Iroquois  had,  through  the  hope 
of  their  conversion  obliged  the  Jesuits  to  establish  with  them  a  strong 
mission,  and  as  from  time  to  time  it  was  necessary  to  carry  to  them 
necessities  of  life,  the  governors  began  to  allow  some  of  their  servants 
to  run  up  there  every  three  or  four  years,  from  where  they  brought  that 
good  green  (gras)  Huron  beaver  that  the  hatters  eek  for  so  much. 

Sometimes  this  was  kept  up  ;  sometimes  no  one  offered  for  the  voyage 
there  being  then  so  little  greediness  it  is  true  that  the  Iroquois  were 
so  feared  ;  M.  de  Lauson  was  the  only  one  to  send  two  individuals  in 
1656  who  each  secured  14  to  15,000  livres  and  came  back  with  an 
indian  fleet  worth  100,000  crowns.  However,  M.  D'Argenson  who 
succeeded  him  and  was  five  years  in  the  country  sent  nobody  neither 
did  Messrs  Avaugour  and  de  Mezy. 

It  was  consequently  after  the  arrival  of  M.  Talon  that  under  pretext 
of  discovery,  and  of  finding  copper  mines,  he  alone  became  director  of 
those  voyages,  for  he  obliged  M.  de  Courcelles  to  sign  him  conges 
which  he  got  worked,  but  on  a  dispute  between  the  workers  he  handled 
some  himself,  of  which  I  remember. 

You  know  the  number  and  the  regulations  given  under  the  first  ad- 
ministration of  M.  the  Earl  of  Frontenac. 

It  is  certain  that  it  is  the  holders  of  conges  who  look  after  and  bring 
down  the  beaver,  and,  can  it  be  said  that  it  is  wrong  to  have  an  abun- 
dance of  goods. 

The  French  and  the  Indians  have  come  down  this  year  ;  the  re- 
ceipts of  the  office  must  total  up  200  millions  or  thereabouts,  which 
judging  from  your  letter,  will  surprise  those  gentlemen  very  much. 
The  clerks  have  rejected  it  as  much  as  they  liked  ;  I  am  told  that  they 
admitted  somewhere  about  six  thousands  of  muscovy  ;  during  our  ad- 
ministration there  were  28  or  30  thousands  received,  which  is  a  large 


APPENDIX  361 

difference  without  taking  into  account  other  qualities,  and  all  this  does 
not  give  the  French  much  trouble,  and  at  the  most  for  the  year  we 
were  not  informed.  I  have  given  my  sentiments  to  the  meeting,  and 
in  particular  to  M.  de  Frontenac  and  to  M.  de  Champigny. 

We  should  be  agreeable  to  our  Prince's  wishes  who  is  doing  so 
much  good  to  this  country  :  his  tenants  who  must  supply  him  in  such 
troubled  times,  lose,  and  it  is  proper  that  people  in  Canada  contribute 
something  to  compensate  them  by  freely  agreeing  to  a  pretty  rich  re- 
ceipt on  their  commodity  but  what  resource  in  regard  to  the  indian  so 
interested  that  everything  moves  with  him,  through  necessity  ;  they  are 
asked  and  sought  after  to  receive  English  goods,  infinitely  better  than 
ours,  at  a  cost  half  as  low  and  to  pay  their  beaver  very  high. 

This  commercial  communication  gives  them  peace  with  their  ene- 
mies and  Hberty  to  hunt,  and  consequently  to  live  in  abundance  instead 
of  their  living  at  present  with  great  hardship.  Should  we  not  say  that 
it  requires  a  great  affection  not  to  break  away  in  the  face  of  such  strong 
attractions  ;  if  we  lose  them  once  we  lose  them  for  ever,  that  it  is  cer- 
tain, and  from  friends  they  become  our  enemies  ;  thus  we  lose  not 
only  the  beaver  but  the  colony,  and  absolutely  no  more  cattle,  no  more 
grains,  no  more  fishing. 

The  colony  with  all  the  forces  of  the  Kingdom  cannot  resist  the 
Indians  when  they  have  the  English  or  other  Europeans  to  supply  them 
with  ammunitions  of  war,  which  leads  me  to  the  query  :  what  is  the 
beaver  worth  to  the  English  that  they  seek  to  get  it  by  all  means  ? 

If  also  the  rumors  set  agoing  are  true  the  farmers-general  would 
not  sell  a  considerable  part  to  the  Danes  at  a  very  high  price,  should 
they  not  have  had  somebody  in  their  employ  who  understands  and 
knows  that  article  well  ;  it  appears  to  me  that  the  thing  is  worth  while. 

All  the  same,  people  are  asking  why  they  want  to  sell  so  dear, 
what  costs  them  so  little,  for  taking  one  and  the  other,  that  going  out 
this  year  should  not  cost  them  more  than  50  j  (^sous'),  the  entries, 
Tadoussac,  and  the  tax  of  one  fourth,  does  it  not  pay  the  lease  with 
profit.  This  is  in  everybody's  mind,  and  everyone  looks  at  it  as  he 
fancies. 


362     PATHFINDERS    OF   THE   WEST 

I  was  of  opinion  to  arrange  the  receipts  on  a  basis  that  these  gentle- 
men got  IVI.  Benac  to  offer,  so  as  to  avoid  the  difficulties  on  the 
qualities,  and  this  opinion  served  to  examine  the  loss  this  proposition 
would  bring  to  the  country  in  the  general  receipt. 

I  have  no  other  interest  than  the  Prince's  service,  and  to  please 
these  gentlemen  I  should  like  to  know,  heartily,  of  some  expedient, 
because  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  find  one  to  satisfy  the  indian  ;  M. 
the  Earl  of  Frontenac  is  under  a  delusion  :  I  may  say  it,  they  will  give 
us  the  goby,  and  after  that  all  shall  be  lost,  I  am  not  sure  even,  if  they 
would  not  repeat  the  Sicilian  Vespers,  to  show  their  good  will,  and 
that  they  never  want  to  make  it  up.  I  am  so  isolated  that  I  do  not 
say  anything  about  it,  as  I  am  afraid  for  myself,  but  I  know  well  that 
it  is  Indian's  nature  to  betray,  and  that  our  affairs  are  not  at  all  good 
in  the  upper  country. 

To  a  great  evil  great  remedy.  I  had  said  to  M.  de  Frontenac 
that  the  2  5  per  cent  could  be  abolished  and  make  it  up  on  something 
else,  as  it  is  a  question  of  saving  the  country,  but  he  did  not  deem  fit 
of  anything  being  said  about  it. 

I  also  told  him  and  M.  de  Champigny  that  we  might  treat  with  a 
Dutchman  to  bring  on  a  clearance  English  and  Dutch  goods  which  are 
much  thought  of  by  our  indians  for  their  good  quality  and  their  price, 
that  this  vessel  would  not  go  up  the  river  but  stav  below  at  a  stated 
place,  where  we  could  go  for  his  goods,  and  give  him  beaver  for  his 
rightful  lading. 

The  company  should  have  the  control  of  these  merchandise,  so  as 
to  sell  them  to  the  indians  on  the  base  of  a  tariff,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
greediness  of  the  voyagcurs  which  contributes  very  much  to  the  discon- 
tent of  the  natives,  because  at  first  the  French  only  went  to  the  Hurons 
and  since  to  Michilimakinac  where  they  sold  to  the  indians  of  the  locality, 
who  then  went  to  exchange  with  other  indians  in  distant  woods,  lands 
and  rivers,  but  now  the  said  Frenchmen  holding  permits  to  have  a 
larger  gain  pass  over  all  the  Ottawas  and  indians  of  Michilimakinac  to 
go  themselves  antl  find  the  most  distant  tribes  which  displeased  the 
former  very  much. 


APPENDIX  2^1^ 

This  has  led  to  fine  discoveries  and  four  or  five  hundred  young  men 
of  Canada's  best  men  are  employed  at  this  business. 

Through  them  we  have  become  acquainted  with  several  Indian's 
names  we  knew  not,  and  4  and  500  leagues  farther  away,  there  are 
other  Indians  unknown  to  us. 

Down  the  Gulf  in  French  Acadia,  we  have  always  known  the 
Abenakis  and  Micmacs. 

On  the  north  shore  of  the  River,  from  Seven  islands  up  we  have 
always  known  the  Papinachois,  Montagnais,  Poissons  Blancs,  (White 
Fish),  (these  being  in  what  is  called  limits  of  Tadoussac),  Mistassinis, 
Algonquins. 

At  Quebec 

There  are  Hurons,  remains  of  the  ancient  Hurons,  defeated  by  the 
Iroquois,  in  Lake  Huron. 

There  is  also  south  of  the  Chaudiere  (River),  five  leagues  from 
Quebec,  a  large  village  of  christian  Abenakis. 

The  Hurons  &  Abenakis  are  under  the  Jesuit  Fathers. 

These  Hurons  have  staid  at  Quebec  so  as  to  pray  God  more  con- 
veniently and  without  fear  of  the  Iroquois. 

The  Abenakis  pray  God  with  more  fervor  than  any  Indians  of  these 
countries.  I  have  seen  and  been  twice  with  them  when  warring  ; 
they  must  have  faith  to  believe  as  they  do  and  their  exactitude  to  live 
well  according  to  principles  of  our  religion.  Blessed  be  God  !  They 
are  very  good  men  at  war  and  those  who  have  give  and  still  give  so 
much  trouble  to  the  Bostoners. 

At  Three-Rivers 
Wolves  and  Algonquins  both  sides  of  the  river. 

At  Montroyal   or    V^ille-Marie 

There  are  Iroquois  of  the  five  nations  who  have  left  their  home  to 
pray  (everyone  is  free  to  believe)  but  it  is  certain  that  threefourths  have 
no  other  motive  nor  interest  to  stay  with  us  than  to  pray. 


364     PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

There  are,  then,  Senecas,  Mohawks,  Cayugas,  Wyandotts,  Oneida 
partly  on  the  mountain  of  Mont-Royal  under  the  direction  of  Messrs  of 
St  Sulpice,  and  partly  at  the  Sault  (Recollet)  south  side,  that  is  to  say, 
above  the  rapids,  under  the  R.  F.  Jesuits,  whose  mission  is  larger  than 
St  Sulpice' s. 

I  50  leagues  from  Mont  Royal  the  Grand  River  leading  to  the  Otta- 
was  ;  to  the  north  are  the  Temiscamingues,  Abitiby,  Outanloubys,  who 
speak  Algonquin. 

At  lake  Nepissing,  the  Nipissiniens,  Algonquin  language,  always 
going  up  the  Grand  River. 

In  lake  Huron,  200  leagues  from  Montreal,  the  Mississagues  and 
Amikoues  :   Algonquins. 

At  Michihmackinac,  the  Negoaschendaching  or  people  of  the  Sable, 
Ottawas,  Linago  Kikacons  or  Cut  Tail,  the  men  from  Forked  Lake 
Onnasaccoctois,  the  Hurons,  in  all  1 000  men  or  thereabouts  half  Huron 
and  half  Algonquin  language. 

In  the  Michigan  or  lake  Illinois,  north  side,  the  Noquets,  Algon- 
quins, Malomini  (Menomeenee),  or  men  of  the  Folle-Avoine  :  different 
language. 

South  of  Puants   (Green)   Bay 

The  Wanebagoes  otherwise  Puans,  because  of  the  name  of  the  Bay; 
language  different  from  the  two  others. 

The  Sakis,  3  leagues  from  the  Bay,  and  Pottewatamis,  about  200 
warriors. 

Towards  lake  Illinois,  on  River  St  Joseph,  the  Miamis  or  men  of 
the  Crane  who  have  three  different  languages,  though  they  live  together. 
United  they  would  form  about  600  men. 

Above  the  Bay,  on  Fox  river,  the  Ottagamis,  the  Mascoutins  and 
the  Kicapoos :   all  together  i  200  men. 

At  Maramegue  river  where  is  situated  Nicholas  Perrot's  post,  are 
some  more  Miamis  numbering  five  to  six  hundred ;  always  the  same 
language. 


APPENDIX  365 

The  Illinois  midway  on  the  Illinois  river  making  5  to  6  different 
villages,  making  in  all  2000  men. 

We  traffic  with  all  these  nations  who  are  all  at  war  with  the  Iroquois. 

In  the  lower  Missipy  there  are  several  other  nations  very  numerous 
with  whom  we  have  no  commerce  and  who  are  trading  yet  with 
nobody. 

Above  Missoury  river  which  is  of  the  Mississippi  below  the  river 
Illinois,  to  the  south,  there  are  the  Mascoutins  Nadoessioux,  with 
whom  we  trade,  and  who  are  numerous. 

Sixty  leagues  above  the  missisipi  and  St  Anthony  of  Padua  Fall, 
there  is  lake  Issaquy  otherwise  lake  of  Buade,  where  there  are  23  vil- 
lages of  Sioux  Nadoessioux  who  are  called  Issaquy,  and  beyond  lake 
Oettatous,  lower  down  the  auctoustous,  who  are  Sioux,  and  could 
muster  together  4000  warriors.  Because  of  their  remoteness  they  only 
know  the  Iroquois  from  what  they  heard  the  French  say. 

In  lake  Superior,  south  side  are  the  saulteurs  who  are  called  Ouchijoe 
(objibway),  Macomili,  Ouxcinacomigo,  Mixmac  and  living  at  Cha- 
goumigon,  it  is  the  name  of  the  countrv,  the  Malanas  or  men  of  the 
Cat-fish  ;   60  men  ;    always  the  Algonquin  language. 

Michipicoten,  name  of  the  land  ;  the  Machacoutiby  and  Openda- 
chiliny,  otherwise  Dung-heads  ;   lands'  men  ;   algonquin  language. 

The  Picy  is  the  name  of  a  land  of  men,  way  inland,  who  come  to 
trade. 

Bagoasche,  also  name  of  a  place  of  men  of  same  nation  who  come 
also  to  trade  200  and  300  men. 

Osepisagny  river  being  discharge  of  lake  Asemipigon  ;  sometimes 
the  Indians  of  the  lake  come  to  trade  ;  they  are  called  Kristinos  and  the 
nation  of  the  Great  Rat.  These  men  are  Algonquins,  numbering  more 
than  2000,  and  also  go  to  trade  with  the  English  of  the  north. 

There  are  too  the  Chichigoe  who  come  sometimes  to  us,  sometimes 
north  to  the  English. 

Towards  West-Northwest,  it  is  nations  called  Fir-trees  ;  numerous; 
all  their  traffic  is  with  the  English. 

All  those  north  nations  are  rovers,  as  was  said,  living  on  fish  and 


266      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

game  or  wild-oats  which  is  abundant  on  the  shores  of  their  lakes  and 
rivers. 

In  lake  Ontario,  south  side,  the  five  Iroquois  nations  ;  our  enemies  ; 
about  I  200  warriors  live  on  Indian  corn  and  by  hunting. 

We  can  say,  that,  of  all  the  Indians  they  are  the  most  cruel  during 
war,  as  during  peace  they  are  the  most  humane,  hospitable,  and  socia- 
ble; they  are  sensible  at  their  meetings,  and  their  behaviour  resembles 
much  to  the  manners  of  republics  of  Europe. 

Lake  Ontario  has  200  leagues  in  circumference. 

Lake  Erie  above  Niagara  250  leagues  ;  lakes  Huron  and  Michigan 
joined  552  leagues  :  to  have  access  to  these  three  lakes  by  boat,  there 
is  only  the  portage  of  Niagara,  of  two  leagues,  above  the  said  lake 
Ontario. 

All  those  who  have  been  through  those  lakes  say  they  are  terrestrial 
paradises  for  abundance  of  venison,  game,  fishing,  and  good  quality  of 
the  land. 

From  the  said  lakes  to  go  to  lake  Superior  there  is  only  one  portage 
of  15  (?)  The  said  lake  is  500  leagues  long  in  a  straight  line,  from 
point  to  point,  without  going  around  coves  nor  the  bays  of  Michi- 
picoten  and  Kaministiquia. 

To  go  from  lake  Superior  to  lake  Asemipigon  there  is  only  1 5 
leagues  to  travel,  in  which  happen  seven  portages  averaging  3  good 
leagues  ;   the  said  lake  has  a  circumference  of  280  leagues. 

From  lake  Huron  to  lake  Nipissing  there  is  the  river  called  French 
River,  25  leagues  long  ;  there  are  3  portages  ;  the  said  lake  has  60  to 
80  leagues  of  circumference. 

Lake  Assiniboel  is  larger  than  lake  Superior,  and  an  infinity  of 
others,  lesser  and  greater  have  to  be  discovered,  for  which  I  approve 
of  M.  the  Marquis  of  Denonville's  saying,  often  repeated  :  —  that  the 
King  of  France,  our  monarch  was  not  high  lord  enough  to  open  up 
such  a  vast  country,  as  we  arc  only  beginning  to  enter  on  the  confines 
of  the  immensity  of  such  a  great  country. 

The  road  to  enter  it  is  by  the  Grand  River  and  lake  Ontario  by 
Niagara,  which  should  be  easy  in  peaceful  times  in  establishing  families 


APPENDIX  367 

at  Niagara  for  the  portage,  and  building  boats  on  Lake  Erie.  I  did 
not  find  that  a  difficult  thing,  and  I  want  to  do  it  under  M.  the 
Marquis  of  Denonville,  who  did  not  care,  so  soon  as  he  perceived  that 
his  war  expedition  had  not  succeeded. 

I  have  given  you  in  this  memorandum  the  names  of  the  natives 
known  to  us  and  with  whom  our  wood  rovers  (coureurs  de  bois)  have 
traded  ;  my  information  comes  from  some  of  the  most  experienced. 

The  surplus  of  the  memorandum  will  serve  to  inform  you  that  prior 
to  M.  de  Tracy,  de  Courcelle  and  Talon's  arrival,  nothing  was  regu- 
lated but  by  the  governor's  will,  although  there  was  a  Board  ;  as  they 
were  his  appointments  and  that  by  appearances,  only  his  creatures  got 
in,  he  was  the  absolute  master  of  it  and  which  was  the  cause  that  the 
Colony  and  the  inhabitants  suffered  very  much  at  the  beginning. 

M.  de  Tracy  on  his  arrival  by  virtue  of  his  commission  dismissed 
the  Board  and  the  Councillors,  to  appoint  another  one  with  mem- 
bers chosen  by  himself  and  the  Bishop,  which  existed  until  the  2nd  and 
3rd  year  of  M.  de  Frontenac's  reign,  who  had  them  granted  at  Court, 
provisions  by  a  decree  for  the  establishment  of  the  Council. 

It  is  only  from  that  time  that  the  King  having  given  the  country 
over  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Co'y  of  West  Indies,  the  tax  of  one  fourth 
and  the  Tadoussac  trade  were  looked  upon  as  belonging  to  the  Com- 
pany, and  since  to  the  King,  because  M.  Talon,  who  crippled  as  much 
as  he  could,  this  company  dare  not  touch  to  these  two  items  of  the 
Domain,  of  which  the  enjoyment  remained  to  them  until  cessation  of 
their  lease. 

So,  it  was  in  favor  of  this  company  that  all  the  regulations  were 
granted  in  reference  to  the  limits  and  working  out  of  Tadoussac  as 
well  as  to  prevent  cheating  on  the  beaver  tax. 

Tadoussac  is  leased  to  six  gentlemen  for  the  sum  of  yearly  ; 

I  took  shares  for  one  fourth,  as  it  was  an  occasion  to  dispose  of  some 
goods  and  a  profit  to  everyone  of  at  most  20  yearly. 

About  beavers  there  is  no  fraud  to  be  feared,  everybody  preferring 
to  get  letters  of  exchange  to  avoid  the  great  difficulties  on  going  out, 
the  entry  and  sale  in  France,  and  of  large  premiums  for  the  risks  ;  in  a 


368      PATHFINDERS    OF    THE    WEST 

word,  no  one  defrauds  nor  thinks  of  it.     The  office  is  not  large  enough 
to  receive  all  the  beaver. 

The  ships  came  in  very  late  ;  I  could  not  get  M.  Dumenu  the 
secretary  to  the  Board  to  send  you  the  regulations  you  ask  for  the  beaver 
trade  ;  you  shall  have  them,  next  year,  if  it  pleases  God.  They  con- 
tain prohibition  to  embark  from  France  under  a  penalty  of  3000  livres' 
fine,  confiscation  of  the  goods,  even  of  the  ships  ;  however,  under 
the  treaty  of  Normandy,  I  had  a  Dieppe  captain  seized  for  about  200 
crowns  worth  of  beaver,  and  the  Council  here  confiscated  the  vessel, 
and  imposed  a  fine  of  1500  livres,  on  which  the  captain  appealed  to 
France,  and  he  obtained  at  the  King's  Council,  replevin  on  his  ship 
and  the  fine  was  reduced  to  30  livres. 

As  prior  to  M.  Talon  nobody  sent  traders  in  the  woods  as  explained 
in  this  memorandum  there  was  not  to  my  knowledge  any  regulation  as 
to  the  said  woods  before  the  decree  of  1675.  On  the  contrary  I  re- 
member that  those  two  individuals  under  M.  de  Lauzon's  government 
who  brought  in  each  for  14.  or  15,000  livres  applied  to  me  to  be  ex- 
empted from  the  tax  of  one  fourth,  because,  they  said  we  were  obliged 
to  them  for  having  brought  down  a  fleet  which  enriched  the  country. 

(Not  signed.) 


INDEX 


Abenaki  Indians,  the,  363. 

Abitiby  Indians,  the,  364. 

Acadia,  Indian  tribes  located  in,  363. 

Albanel,  Charles,  Jesuit  missionary, 
141 ;  overland  trip  of,  to  Hudson 
Bay,  143-146 ;  at  King  Charles 
Fort,   147. 

Albany  (Orange),  32  ;  Iroquois  free- 
booting  expedition  against,  36-38  ; 
Radisson's  escape  to,  39-41. 

Algonquin  Indian,  murder  of  Mohawk 
hunters  by  a,  20. 

Algonquin  Indians,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  travel  to  the  West  with, 
73-79  ;  territory  of  the,  359  ;  wars 
with  the  Iroquois,  359-360  ;  tribes 
of,  on  Lake  Huron,  364. 

Allemand,  Pierre,  companion  of  Rad- 
isson, 154. 

AUouez,  Pere  Claude,  142. 

Amsterdam,  Radisson's  early  visit  to, 
42. 

Arctic  Ocean,  Hearne's  overland  trip 
to,  257-265  ;  arrival  at,  265-266  ; 
Mackenzie's  trip  of  exploration  to, 
281-286. 

Arms,  supplied  to  Mohawks  by  Dutch, 

9  n. ;  desire  for,  cause  of  Sioux' 
friendliness  to  Radisson,  120,  122. 

Assiniboine   Indians,  origin  of  name, 

10  n.,  85  ;  Radisson  learns  of,  from 
prairie  tribes,  85  ;  defence  of  the 
younger  Groseillers  by,  184  ;  De  la 
Vcrendrye  meets  the,  2 1 8-221  ;    ac- 


company De  la   Verendrye   to    the 

Mandans,    223-227  ;    Saint-Pierre's 

encounter  with,  237. 
Assiniboine  River,  218,  219,  221-222. 
Athabasca  country,  Hearne    explores 

the,  268-269. 
Athabasca  Lake,  Hearne's  arrival  at, 

268-269. 
Athabasca  River,  277. 
Athabascan    tribes,    Matonabbee   and 

the,  249. 
Aulneau,  Father,  210,  211  ;   killed  by 

Indians,  214. 

B 

Baptism  of  Indian  children  by  Radis- 
son and  Groseillers,  92. 

Barren  lands,  region  of  "  Little 
Sticks,"    253-254,    259-260. 

Bath  of  purification,  Indian,  14,  268. 

Bay  of  the  North.     See  Hudson  Bay. 

Bayly,  Charles,  governor  of  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  140 ;  in  Canada, 
140-142  ;  encounter  with  the  Jes- 
uit Albanel,  141-142,  147  ;  accusa- 
tions against  Radisson  and  Groseil- 
lers, 147-148. 

Bear,  Lewis's  experience  with  a,  318. 

Beauharnois,  Charles  de,  governor  of 
New  France,  201,  203,  235. 

Beatix  Hommes,  Crow  Indians,  232. 

Beckworth,  prisoner  among  Missouri 
Indians,  t,t,. 

Belmont,  Abbe,  cited,  5  n.,  98  n. 

Bering,  Vitus,  195. 

Bigot,  intendant  of  New  France,  236. 


369 


370 


INDEX 


Bird,  prisoner  of  the  Blackfeet,  33. 
Bird's  egg  moon,  the  (June),  279. 
Blackbird,  Omaha  chief,  grave  of,  31 1. 
Bochart,  governor    of  Three    Rivers, 

See  Duplessis-Kerbodot. 
Boesme,  Louis,  70. 
Boissons,  drinking  matches,  280. 
Boston,   Radisson  and   Groseillers  in, 

136. 
Bourassa,  voyageiir,  213. 
Bourdon,  Jean,  explorations  by,   102, 

134  n. 
Bow  Indians,  the,  232-233. 
Bridgar,  John,  governor  of  Hudson's 

Bay  Company,   166,   169,   171,   173, 

174,  175,  180. 
Brower,  J.  V.,  cited,  88  n. 
Bryce,  Dr.  George,  6  n.,  88  n.,  187  n. 
Buffalo-hunts,  Sioux,  92  n.,  124. 
Button,  Sir  Thomas,  explorations    of, 

134  n. 


Cadieux,  exploit  and  death  of,  197-198. 

Cameahwait,  Snake  Intlian  chief,  324- 
326. 

Cannibalism  among  Indians,  24,  77. 

Cannibals  of  the  Barren  Lands,  255. 

Cape  Breton,  discovery  and  fortifica- 
tion of,  350. 

Caribou,  Radisson's  remarks  on,  127. 

Caribou  herds  in  Barren  Lands,  255; 
Indian  method  of  hunting,  259. 

Carr,  George,  letter  from,  to  Lord 
Darlington,  136  n. 

Carr,  Sir  Robert,  urges  Radisson  to 
renounce  P'rance,  136. 

Cartier,  Jactiues,  71,  193,  350-351. 

Cartwright,  vSir  George,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  sail  with,  136-137;  share- 
holder in  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
140. 

Catlin,  cited,  14  n.,  226. 

Cayuga  Indians,  llie,  34,  55,  364. 


Chaboneau,  guide  to  Lewis  and  Clark, 


312, 


532- 


Chame,  M.,  commissioner  of  Company 

of  Normandy,  355,  357. 
Champlain,  governor  in  Canada,  351- 

353- 

Charlevoix,  mission  of,  202. 

Chichigoe  tribe  of  Indians,  the,  365. 

Chinook  Indians,  Lewis  and  Clark 
friends  with,  328. 

Chipewyans,  bath  of  purification  prac- 
tised by,  14  n.;  Hearne's  journey 
with,  257-263;  massacre  of  Eskimo 
by,  263-265. 

Chouart,  M.,  letters  of,  335-337.  See 
Groseillers,  Jean  Baptiste. 

Chouart,  Medard.  See  Groseillers, 
Medard  Chouart. 

Chroniqiie  T}-iJliivienne,  Suite's,  4  n. 

Clark,  William,  companion  of  Meri- 
wether Lewis,  308-309;  explora- 
tion of  Yellowstone  River  by,  329; 
hero-qualities  of,  332-333.  See 
Lewis. 

Clatsop  Indians,  Lewis  and  Clark 
among    the,    328. 

Clearwater  River,  Lewis  and  Clark 
on   the,    327. 

Coal,  use  of,  by  Indians,  89. 

Colbert,  Radisson  pardoned  and  com- 
missioned by,  148;  withholds  ad- 
vancement from  Radisson,  152; 
summons  Radisson  and  Groseillers 
to  France,  1 76-177;    death  of,  177. 

Colleton,  Sir  Peter,  shareholder  in 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  140. 

Colter,  frontiersman  with  Lewis  and 
Clark,  332. 

Colunil)ia  River,  Lewis  and  Clark 
travel    down    the,    327. 

Company  of  Miscou,  the,  352. 

Company  of  Normandy,  the,  354-357. 

Company  of  the  North,  the,  151,  154, 
175,  176. 


INDEX 


371 


Company  of  One  Hundred  Associates, 

the,  133,  352,  353. 
Company  of  Tadoussac,  the,  352. 
Company    of    the    West    Indies,    the, 

133,  153;   account  of  formation  of, 

357- 

Comporte,  M.,  letter  to,  from  M. 
Chouart,  335-336. 

Coppermine  River  ("Far-Off-Metal 
River"),  245,  249,  252,  262,  267. 

Copper  mines,  Radisson  receives  re- 
ports of,  112,  124;  discovery  of, 
by    Hearne,    267. 

Council  Bluffs,  origin  of  name,  311. 

Council  pipe,  smoking  the,  16,  29. 

Couture,  explorations  of,  103,  1 29-1 30. 

Couture  (the  younger),  143. 

Cree  Indians,  first  reports  of,  69,  85; 
Radisson's  second  visit  to,  II2-I13, 
116;  wintering  in  a  settlement  of, 
117;  a  famine  among,  118-119; 
De  la  Verendrye  assisted  by,  206— 
208. 

Crow  Indians,  De  la  Verendrye's  sons 
among,  232-233. 

D 

Dablon,  Claude,  Jesuit  missionary, 
103,  134  n.,  142. 

D'Ailleboust,  M.,  governor  of  Com- 
pany of  Normandy,  354. 

Dakota,  Radisson's  explorations  in, 
89. 

D'Argenson,  Viscomte,  governor  of 
New  France,  99,  129-130,  356-357, 
360. 

D'Avaugour,  governor,  104,  105,   107, 

133.  143.  357>  360. 
Death-song,  Huron,  24,  54. 
De  Casson,  Dollier,  cited,  5  n.,  96  n., 

98  n. 
De  la  Galissonniere,  governor,  235. 
De  la  Jonquiere,  governor,  236. 
De  Lanoue,  fur-trade  pioneer,  204. 


De  la  Verendrye,  Francois,  215,  222, 
229,  230,  233. 

De  la  Verendrye,  Jean  Baptiste,  197, 
205,  208-209,  210,  212;  murder  of, 
by  Sioux,  214. 

De  la  Verendrye,  Louis,  215,  229. 

De  la  Verendrye,  Pierre,  215,  222, 
229,  230,  235,  315. 

De  la  Verendrye,  Pierre  Gaultier  de 
Varennes,  leaves  Montreal  on  search 
for  Western  Sea  (1731),  194-197; 
at  Nepigon,  201;  previous  career, 
201-203;  traverses  Lake  Superior 
to  Kaministiquia,  204;  Fort  St. 
Pierre  named  for,  206;  among  the 
Cree  Indians,  206-208;  return  to 
Quebec  to  raise  supplies,  210;  loss 
of  eldest  son  in  Sioux  massacre, 
214;  explores  Minnesota  and  Mani- 
toba to  Lake  Winnipeg,  215-216; 
at  Fort  Maurepas,  217;  return  to 
Montreal  with  furs,  218;  explores 
valley  of  the  Assiniboine,  219-221; 
visits  the  Mandan  Indians,  224- 
225;  takes  possession  for  France  of 
the  Upper  Missouri,  225 ;  super- 
seded by  De  Noyelles  ( 1 746),  235 ; 
decorated  with  Order  of  Cross  of 
St.  Louis,  235;  death  at  Montreal, 
236. 

De  Niverville,  lieutenant  of  Saint- 
Pierre,  236-237. 

Denonville,  Marquis  of,  336,  366,  367. 

De  Noyelles,  supersession  of  De  la 
Verendrye  by,  235. 

De  Noyon,  explorations  of,  204. 

Dieppe,  merchants  of,  interested  in 
Canada  trade,  352,  353. 

Dionne,  Dr.  N.  E.,  cited,  76  n.,  88  n., 
106  n.,  139  n. 

Dog  Rib  Indians,  Mackenzie  among, 
283-284. 

DoUard,  fight  of,  against  the  Iroquois, 
96-98,  198. 


372 


INDEX 


Dreuillettes,  Gabriel,    discoveries  by, 

70-71,  103,  134  n. 
Drewyer,    companion    of   Meriwether 

Lewis,  331. 
Drugging  of  Indians,  63-64. 
Duchesnau,  M.  Jacques,  149  n.,  358. 
Dufrost,  Christopher,  Sieur  de  la  Jem- 

meraie,  197,  203,  205,  209,  210,  211. 
Du  Peron,  Francois,  47. 
Duplessis-Kerbodot,    murder    of,    by 

Iroquois,  5  n.,  19,  45. 
Dupuis,  Major,  at  Onondaga,  46,  55- 

66. 
Dutch,    arms    supplied    to    Mohawk 

Indians  by,  9  n.;    war  of,  with  the 

English,  137-138. 


England,  arrival  of  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  in,  137  ;  effect  of  war 
between  Holland  and,  on  exploring 
propositions,  1 37-138;  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  organized  in,  139- 
140;  fur-trading  expeditions  from, 
140-149.  See  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany and  Radisson. 

Erie  Indians,  the,  34. 

Eskimo,  massacre  of,  by  Chipewyans, 
263-265. 

F 

"  Far-Off-Metal  River,"  the,  245,  249, 
252;    Hearne  reaches  the,  262. 

Feasts,  Indian,  60,  62-63,  67  n. 

Festins  a  tout  manger,  60,  67  n. 

Fields,  companion  of  Meriwether 
Lewis,  330-331. 

Flathead  Indians,  assistance  given 
Lewis  and  Clark  by,  327,  328. 

Floyd,  Sergeant,  of  Lewis  and  Clark's 
expedition,  332. 

Forked  River,  term  ajiplicd  to  Mis- 
sissippi and  Missouri  rivers,  86,  100; 
Radisson's  account  of  people  on 
the,  86-87. 


Fort,  Dollard's  so-called,  at  the  Long 
Sault,  97;  Radisson  andCroseillers', 
in  the  Northwest,  1 14-115. 

Fort  Bourbon  (Port  Royal),  on  Hayes 
River,  161-175,  182-186. 

Fort  Bourbon,  on  Saskatchewan,  229, 

Fort  Chipewyan,  277. 

Fort  Clatsop,  Lewis  and  Clark's  win- 
ter quarters,  327-328. 

Fort  Dauphin,  229. 

Fort  King  Charles,  139,  146. 

Fort  Lajonquiere,  237. 

Fort  Mandan,  stars  and  stripes  hoisted 
at,  312. 

Fort  Maurepas,  construction,  209; 
description,  216-217;  ^^  '^  Veren- 
drye  at,  217. 

Fort  Orange,  Radisson  and  the  Iro- 
quois at,  36-38;  Radisson's  escape 
to,  39-41. 

Fort  Poskoyac,  229,  235. 

Fort  Prince  of  Wales,  building  of, 
243;  description,  244-245;  Hearne 
becomes  governor  of,  270;  surren- 
der and  destruction  of,  271-272. 

Fort  de  la  Reine,  construction  of,  222; 
De  la  Verendrye  returns  to,  after 
visiting  Mandans,  228;  abandon- 
ment of,  237. 

Fort  Rouge,  221. 

Fort  St.  Charles,  208-209,  210,  215. 

Fort  St.  Louis,  of  Quebec,  first  forti- 
fication on  site  of,  351. 

Fort  St.  Pierre,  206. 

Fort  William,  280,  283,  287. 

Eraser  River,  Mackenzie's  explora- 
tions on,  294-302. 

Frog  moon,  the  (May),  279, 

Frontenac,  governor  of  New  France, 
154,  358,  360,  361,  362,  367- 

Fur  ct)mpanies  of  New  France,  130, 

133.  151.  153.  175-176,  352-35^^- 
Fur    company,    Hudson's    Bay.      Set 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 


INDEX 


373 


Fur  trade,  the  French,  101-102,  104; 
regulations  governing  the,  I04, 
153  n.;  effect  of,  on  development 
of  West,  113. 


Gantlet,  running  the,  15-16. 

Gareau,  Leonard,  journey  and  death 
of,  70. 

Garneau,  cited,  5  n.,  87  n. 

Gillam,  Ben,  encounters  with  Radisson, 
163-164,  168-175. 

Gillam,  Zechariah,  Radisson's  first 
transactions  with,  135-136  ;  Groseil- 
lers'  voyage  to  Hudson  Bay  with, 
13S-139  ;  at  Rupert  River  with 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  ship,  14S  ; 
active  enmity  of,  tovsard  Radisson, 
165-167,  168-169,  171,  176,  180. 

Godefroy,  Jean,  companion  of  Radis- 
son, 154. 

Godefroy  family,  the,  154  n. 

Goose  month  (April),  253-254. 

Gorst,  Thomas,  140  n.,  147  n. 

Grand  River  of  the  North.  See  Mac- 
kenzie River. 

Gray,  Captain,  308. 

Great  Falls  of  the  Missouri,  Lewis 
discovers  the,  317. 

Great  Rat,  nation  of  the,  131,  365. 

Green  Bay,  v\estern  limit  of  French 
explorations  until  Radisson,  69  ; 
Radisson's  winter  quarters  at,  79- 
80,  99-100. 

Groseillers,  nephew  of  explorer,  title 
of  nobility  ordered  granted  to,  142. 

Groseillers,  Jean  Baptiste,  accompa- 
nies Radisson  to  Hudson  Bay 
(1682),  154  ;  trip  up  Hayes  River, 
158,  161  ;  left  in  charge  of  Fort 
Bourbon,  175  ;  troubles  with  In- 
dians and  with  English,  182-183  > 
surrenders  fort  to  Radisson,  acting 
for  Hudson's    Bay  Company,   184  ; 


letters  to  mother,  1 84,  335-337 ;  car- 
ried to  England  by  force,  186  ;  offer 
from  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  187, 
Groseillers,  Medard  Chouart,  birth, 
birthplace,  and  marriage,  45  ;  jour- 
ney to  Lake  Nipissing,  71  ;  en- 
gages with  Radisson  in  voyage  of 
exploration  to  the  West  (1658),  71- 
79  ;  winter  quarters  at  Green  Bay, 
79-80  ;  explorations  in  West  and 
Northwest,  80-90  ;  return  to  Que- 
bec, 99  ;  second  trip  to  Northwest 
(1661),  103-129  ;  imprisoned  and 
fined  on  return  to  Quebec  (1663), 
130  ;  goes  to  France  to  seek  repa- 
ration, 133  ;  meets  with  neglect 
and  indifference,  133-134;  deceived 
into  returning  to  Three  Rivers  and 
going  to  Isle  Percee,  135  ;  goes  to 
Port  Royal,  N.S.,  becomes  involved 
with  Boston  sea-captain,  and  reaches 
England  via  Boston  and  Spain 
(1666),  135-137  ;  backed  by  Prince 
Rupert,  fits  out  ship  for  Hudson 
Bay,  and  spends  year  in  trading  ex- 
pedition (1668-1669),  138-139  ;  on 
return  to  London,  created  a  Knight 
de  la  Jarretih'e,  139  ;  second  voy- 
age from  England  (1670),  140  ;  in- 
volved with  Radisson  in  suspicions 
of  doulDle-dealing,  147-148  ;  in 
meeting  of  fur  traders  at  Quebec, 
149  ;  retires  to  family  at  Three 
Rivers,  151  ;  summoned  by  Radis- 
son to  join  expedition  in  private 
French  interests  to  Hayes  River 
(1681-1682),  153-158;  successful 
trade  in  furs,  158,  167  ;  jealousy 
and  lawsuits  on  return  to  Quebec, 
175-176  ;  summoned  to  France  by 
Colbert  (1684),  176-177  ;  petition 
for  redress  of  wrongs  ignored  by 
French  court,  179  ;  gives  up  strug- 
gle and  retires  to  Three  Rivers,  179. 


374 


INDEX 


H 

Hayes,  Sir  James,  i8o,  l8i. 

Hayes  River,  Radisson's  canoe  trip 
up  the,  158-160 ;  Fort  Bourbon  es- 
tablished on,  161  ;  Radisson's  sec- 
ond visit  to,  182-186. 

Hayet,  Marguerite,  Radisson's  sister, 
6  n.,  43;  death  of  first  husband,  19, 
45  ;  marriage  with  Groseillers,  45 ; 
letters  from  son,  184,  335-337. 

Hayet,  Sebastien,  6  n.,  43  n. 

Hearne,  Samuel,  cited,  14  n.;  depar- 
ture from  Port  Prince  of  Wales  on 
exploring  trip,  249-252;  in  the 
Barren  Lands,  253-255,  259-260 ; 
crosses  the  Arctic  Circle,  261  ; 
discovers  the  Coppermine  River, 
262-263;  massacre  of  Eskimo  by 
Indians  accompanying,  264-265  ; 
arrival  at  Arctic  Ocean,  265  ;  takes 
possession  of  Arctic  regions  for 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  266-267; 
returns  up  the  Coppermine  River 
and  discovers  copper  mines,  267; 
travels  in  Athabasca  region,  268- 
269;  returns  to  Fort  Prince  of 
Wales,  269;  becomes  governor  of 
post,  270;  surrenders  fort  to  the 
French,  271-272. 

Henault,  Madeline,  Radisson's  mother, 
6  n.,  43. 

Hudson  Bay,  overland  routes  to,  71  ; 
Radisson's  early  discoveries  regard- 
ing, 90-91,  127-128. 

Hudson  Bay,  Robson's,  cited,  139  n., 
140  n.,  147  n.,  161  n.,  166  n. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  origin  of, 
139-140 ;  early  expeditions,  140- 
149;  distrust  of  Radisson  by,  150; 
contract  between  Radisson  and, 
181-182  ;  final  treaty  of  peace  made 
between  Indians  and,  185  ;  jioor 
treatment    of    Radisson    l)y,    1S8; 


quietly  prosperous  career  of,  241- 
242 ;  encroachments  of  French 
traders,  242-243  ;  demand  for  ac- 
tivity, 243—244;  possession  taken  of 
Arctic  regions  for,  by  Hearne,  266- 
267. 

Huron  Indians,  death  songs  of,  24, 
54;  massacre  of  Christian,  by  Iro- 
quois, 50-54;  band  of,  with  Dollard, 
against  the  Iroquois,  97-98  ;  terri- 
tory of,  359  ;  tribes  of,  at  Michili- 
mackinac,  364, 

Husky  dogs,  277. 


Icebergs,  Labradorian,  155. 

Iroquois  Confederacy,  the  five  tribes 
composing  the,  34  ;  characteristics 
of,  366. 

Iroquois  Indians,  murder  of  inhabit- 
ants of  Three  Rivers  by,  5  n.,  19, 
45  ;  treatment  of  prisoners  by,  15- 
16,  25-28,  54  ;  Radisson's  life  with, 
16-39  ;  Frenchmen  at  Montreal 
scalped  by,  48 ;  hostages  of,  held 
at  Quebec,  48,  55-56 ;  siege  of 
Onondaga  by,  55-67  ;  encounters 
between  Algonquins  and  Radisson 
and,  76-78,  79-80 ;  Radisson's 
fight  with,  on  the  Grand  Sault,  94- 
96  ;  Bollard's  battle  with,  97-98  ; 
Radisson's  fights  with,  on  second 
Western  trip,  107-108,  109-III  ; 
wars  between  Algonquins  and,  359. 

Isle  of  Massacres,  50-54. 

Issaguy  tribe  of  Indians,  131  n. 

J 

Jemmeraie,  Sieur  de  la,  De  la  Veren- 
drye's  lieutenant,  197,  203,  205,  209, 
210  ;    death  of,  211. 

Jesuit  Relations,  cited,  57  n.,  69  n,, 
71  n.,  73  n.,  80  n.,  81  n.,  82  n.,  91  n., 
92  n.,  96  n.,  141  n. ;   quoted,  88. 


INDEX 


375 


Jesuits,  in  Onondaga  expedition,  44- 
67  ;  lives  of  Iroquois  saved  by,  65  ; 
start  with  Radisson  and  Groseillers 
on  first  Western  expedition,  73; 
turn  back  to  Montreal,  77. 

Jogues,  Father,  4,  56,  68,  69. 

JoUiet,  84  n.,  149,  151. 

K 

Kaministiquia,  fur  post  at,  204. 

Kicicapoo  Indians,  location  of,  364. 

King  Charles  Fort.  See  Fort  King 
Charles. 

Kirke,  Mary,  marriage  with  Radisson, 
138;   becomes  a  Catholic,  152. 

Kirke,  Sir  John,  shareholder  in  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  140 ;  claims 
of,  against  New  France,  152;  for- 
bids daughter's  going  to  P>ance, 
152;  friendly  influence  used  for 
Radisson,  180. 

Knight  de  la  Jarretiere,  Groseillers 
created  a,  139. 


La  Barre,  governor  of  New  France,  1 76. 

La  Chesnaye,  cited,  Il5n.,  131  n. ; 
backs  Radisson  in  Northern  expe- 
dition, 152-153;  outcome  of  Rad- 
isson's  dealings  with,  1 75-176. 

Lake  Assiniboel,  366. 

"Lake  of  the  Castors,"  the  (Lake 
Nipissing),  76  n.,  106  n.,  364. 

Lake  Ontario,  tribes  about,  366. 

Lake  Superior,  exploration  of,  by 
Radisson,  89 ;  explorer's  second 
visit  to,  111-112. 

Lamoignon,  M.  de,  president  of 
Company   of  Normandy,    355,  356, 

357- 
La  Perouse,  French  admiral,  271. 
Lariviere,  companion  of  Radisson  and 

Groseillers,  105,  106-107. 
La  Salle,  84  n.,  85,  149,  151,  194. 


Lauzon,  ]\L  de,  governor  of  Company 
of  Normandy,  355-356,  368. 

La  Valliere,  103. 

La  Verendrye.     See  De  la  Verendrye, 

Ledyard,  John,  30S. 

Letters  of  Marie  de  V Incarnation, 
cited,  46  n.,  58  n.,  60  n.,  63  n., 
81  n.,  90  n.,  96  n.,  98  n.,  139  n. 

Lewis,  Meriwether,  starts  on  expedi- 
tion to  explore  Missouri  and 
Columbia  rivers,  308-309  ;  reaches 
villages  of  Mandan  Indians,  311- 
313;  first  views  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, 314-315  ;  discovers  the  Great 
Falls  of  the  Missouri,  317  ;  nar- 
rowly escapes  death  from  a  bear, 
318-319;  enters  the  Gates  of  the 
Rockies,  321  ;  reaches  sources  of 
the  Missouri,  322-323 ;  makes 
friends  with  Snake  Indians,  323- 
327  ;  crosses  Divide  to  the  Clear- 
water River  and  travels  down  the 
Columbia,  327  ;  arrival  on  Pacific 
Ocean,  327 ;  winters  at  Fort  Clat- 
sop (1S05-1806),  327-328;  return 
trip  by  main  stream  of  the  Missouri, 
329;  adventures  with  Minnetaree 
Indians,  329-331  ;  arrival  at  St. 
Louis,  332 ;  tribute  to  character 
and  qualities  of,  Z2>'^~1)Z1>- 

Liberie,  traitor  in  Lewis  and  Clark's 
expedition,  31 1. 

Little  Missouri,  Lewis  and  Clark  pass 
the,  313. 

"  Little  Sticks,"  region  of,  253-254, 
259-260. 

London,  Radisson's  first  visit  to,  137- 

138. 

Long    Sault,     Rapids    of,     Dollard's 

battle  at,  96-98,  198. 
Lord     Preston,     English     envoy     in 

France,  177,  180,  181. 
Low,  A.    P.,    quoted,    128  n.,    146  n., 

149  n. 


376 


INDEX 


M 

Mackay,  Alexander,  Mackenzie's  lieu- 
tenant, 288,  291,  292,  293,  296,  299. 

Mackenzie,  Sir  Alexander,  early  career 
of,  276;  stationed  at  Fort  Chipe- 
wyan,  276-277;  exploration  of  Mac- 
kenzie River  by,  280-285;  crosses 
the  Arctic  Circle,  285;  reaches  Arc- 
tic Ocean,  285-286;  returns  up  the 
Mackenzie  to  Fort  Chipewyan,  2S6; 
exploration  of  Peace  River  by, 
288-294;  discovers  source  of  Peace 
River,  294;  crosses  the  Divide  and 
reaches  head  waters  of  Fraser  River, 
294;  travels  down  the  Fraser,  294- 
298;  adventures  with  Indians,  298- 
300;  reaches  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
302-303;  return  to  Fort  Chipewyan 
via  Peace  River,  304-305 ;  later  life, 
306. 

Mackenzie,  Charles,  311. 

Mackenzie,  Roderick,  278,  279. 

Mackenzie  River,  exploration  of,  280- 
287,  296-302. 

Mandan  Indians,  bath  of  purification 
practised  by,  14  n.;  Radisson  dis- 
covers the,  86,  88  ;  De  la  Veren- 
drye's  visit  to,  222,  225-227;  the 
younger  De  la  Verendryes'  second 
visit  to,  230-23 1;  Lewis  and  Clark 
at  villages  of,  311-313,  332. 

Manitoba,  Radisson's  explorations  in, 
1 13-128. 

Mar(|uette,  Pere,  84  n. 

Martin,  Abraham,  Plains  of  Abraham 
named  for,  45  n. 

Martin,  Helen,  Groseillers'  first  wife, 

45  n- 

Martiniere,  plan  of,  to  capture  Radis- 
son for  French,  188. 

Mascoutins,  "  people  of  the  fire,"  80, 
131  n.,  364,  365  ;  location  of  the, 
86  ;  Radisson  among  the,  100. 


Matonabbee,  chief  of  Chipewyans, 
248-249;  aid  afforded  Ilearne  l)y, 
256-263;  massacre  of  Eskimo  di- 
rected by,  264-265;  suicide  of,  272. 

Menard,  Father,  105,  112. 

Messaiger,  Father,  204,  205,  209. 

Miami  Indians,  location  of  the,  364. 

Michigan,  Indian  tribes  in,  364. 

Michilimackinac,  Island  of,  Radisson 
passes,  112;  early  headquarters  of 
fur  trade,  201  ;  Indian  tribes  at,  364. 

Micmac  Indians,  the,  363. 

Minnesota,  dispute  as  to  discovery  of 
eastern,  71  n. ;  Radisson's  explora- 
tions in,  89 ;  Radisson  may  have 
wintered  in,  on  second  trip,  1 13. 

Minnetaree  Indians,  Lewis   and  the, 

329-331- 

Mississippi,  Radisson  discovers  the 
Upper,  80-81. 

Mississippi  Valley,  Radisson  first  to 
explore  the,  85-89. 

Missouri,  tribes  of  the,  86 ;  De  la 
Verendrye  takes  possession  of  the 
Upper,  225  ;  Lewis  and  Clark  ex- 
plore the,  313-323. 

Mistassini,  Lake,  Father  Albanel  at, 
146. 

Mistassini  Indians,  the,  363. 

Mohawk  Indians,  murder  of  French 
of  Three  Rivers  by,  5  n.,  19,  45  ; 
adoption  of  Radisson  by  a  family 
of,  17  ;  murder  of  three,  by  Radis- 
son and  an  Algonquin,  20  ;  jealous 
as  to  French  settlement  among 
Onondagas,  47-48  ;  siege  of  Onon- 
daga by,  55-59  ;  outwitted  by  Rad- 
isson at  Onondaga,  59-67  ;  location 
of  the,  364. 

Montagnais  Indians,  the,  363. 

Montana,  punishment  of  Indians  by 
scouts  in,  25  n. 

Montmagny,  M.  de,  governor  in  Can- 
-'ii'^.  353-354- 


INDEX 


377 


Montreal,  expedition  for  Onondaga 
leaves,  47  ;  Iroquois  scalp  French- 
men at,  48;  return  of  Onondaga 
party,  66 ;  De  la  Verendrye's  de- 
parture from,  194-197;  Indian  tribes 
located  in  vicinity  of,  363-364. 

Munck,  explorations  of,  134  n. 

N 

"Nation  of  the  Grand  Rat,"  131,  365. 
Nelson  River,  Radisson  on  the,  140, 

161,  164-167,  170-174,  179  n. 
Nemisco  River,  called  the  Rupert,  139. 
Nepigon,  De  la  Verendrye  at,  201,  202. 
New  York  in  1653,  41-42. 
New  York  Colonial  Documents,  9  n. 
Nez   Perces    Indians,   help    given   to 

Lewis  and  Clark  by,  328. 
Nicolet,  Jean,  68,  69. 
Nicolls,     Colonel     Richard,     quoted, 

136  n. 
Nipissing,  Lake,  76  n.,  106  n.,  364. 
Nipissinien  Indians,  the,  364. 
Northwest,   the    Great,   discovery    of, 

by  Radisson,  80-85. 
Northwest    Fur    Company,   the,    279, 

280,  287. 
Northwest  Passage,  reward  of  ;^20,ooo 

offered  for  discovery  of,  278. 
Norton,  Marie,  247,  270,  271-272. 
Norton,  Moses,  governor  of  Fort  Prince 

of  Wales,  244;    character  of,  246- 

247;   death  of,  269-270. 

O 

Ochagach,  Indian  hunter,  202. 
Octbaton  tribe  of  Indians,  131  n. 
Ojilmay  Indians,  115,  365. 
Oldmixon,  John,  cited,  92  n.,  1 14  n., 

130  n.,  147  n. 
Omaha   Indians,    Radisson's   possible 

visit  to,  86,  88. 
Omtou  tribe  of  Indians,  131  n. 
Oneida  Indians,  the,  34,  364. 


Onondaga,  settlement  at,  46 ;  Iroquois 
conspiracy  against,  46-48;  garrison 
besieged  at,  55-63;  escape  of  French 
from,  64-67. 

Onondaga  tribe,  the,  34;  Jesuit  mis- 
sion among  (1656),  46-47;  treach- 
erous conduct  of,  toward  Christian 
Hurons,  50-54. 

Orange.     See  Albany. 

Orimha,  Radisson's  Mohawk  name,  16. 

C^udiette,  Jean,  154  n. 

"Ouinipeg,"  Lake,  69,  71. 

Outanlouby  Indians,  the,  364. 


Pacific  Ocean,  Mackenzie's  expedition 
reaches  the,  302-303 ;  Lewis  and 
Clark's  expedition  reaches,  327. 

Papinachois  Indians,  the,  363. 

Parkman,  Francis,  cited,  5  n.,  19  n., 
46  n.,  87  n.,  96  n. 

Pays  d^en  Haut,  "  Up-Country,"  de- 
fined, 201  n. 

Peace  River,  the,  281;  exploration  of, 
287;  Mackenzie  reaches  the  source 
of  the,  294. 

Pemmican,  defined,  223. 

"  People  of  the  Fire,"  the,  Mascoutin 
Indians,  80  n.,  86  n.,  100,  131  n. 

Pictured  Rocks  of  Lake  Superior,  the, 
112. 

Piescaret,  Algonquin  chief,  4. 

Pipe  of  peace,  smoking  the,  121-123. 

Plains  of  Abraham,  named  for  Abra= 
ham  Martin,  45  n. 

Poinsy,  M.  de,  commander  at  St, 
Christopher,  353. 

Poissons  Blancs  (White  Fish)  Indians, 
the,  363. 

Poncet,  Pere,  41. 

Port  Nelson,  140,  161-175,  182-186. 

Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia,  Radisson  and 
Groseillers  at,  135. 

Prince  Maximilian,  226. 


378 


INDEX 


Prince  Rupert,  patron  of  French  ex- 
plorers, 13S-139,  iSo;  first  governor 
of  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  140. 

Prisoners,  treatment  of,  by  Iroquois, 
15-16,  25-28,  54. 

Prudhomme,  Mr.  Justice,  88  n. 

Purification,  bath  of,  Indian  rite,  14, 
268. 


Quebec,  Iroquois  hostages  for  safety 
of  Onondaga  held  at,  48,  55-56; 
celebration  at,  on  return  of  Radis- 
son  and  Groseillers,  99;  meeting  of 
fur  traders  at  (1676),  149;  Indian 
tribes  located  about,  363. 

R 

Radisson,  Pierre  Esprit  (the  elder), 
6  n.,  43  n. 

Radisson,  Pierre  Esprit,  uncle  of  the 
explorer,  43  n. 

Radisson,  Pierre  Esprit,  date  and  place 
of  birth,  6;  genealogy  of,  6  n., 
43  n. ;  captured  by  Iroquois  Indians, 
9;  adopted  into  Mohawk  tribe,  17; 
escape  to  Fort  Orange  (1653),  39- 
41 ;  proof  of  Catholicism  of,  41  n.; 
visits  Europe  and  returns  to  Three 
Rivers  (1654),  42-44;  joins  expedi- 
tion to  Onondaga  (1657),  47;  be- 
sieged by  Iroquois  throughout  win- 
ter, 55-64;  saves  the  garrison  and 
returns  to  Montreal,  65-67;  goes 
on  trapping  and  exploring  trip  to 
the  West  (1658),  73-74;  reaches 
Lake  Nipissing  and  Lake  Huron, 
78;  in  winter  quarters  at  Green  Hay, 
79-80;  crosses  present  state  of  Wis- 
consin and  discovers  Upper  Missis- 
sippi, 80-85;  explorations  to  the 
west  and  south,  86-89;  '"  Minne- 
sota   and     Manitoba,    89-91;     en- 


counter with  Iroquois  at  Long  Sault 
of  the  Ottawa,  94-96;  at  scene  of 
Bollard's  fight  of  a  week  before, 
96-98;  arrival  at  Quebec  (1660), 
99;  sets  forth  on  voyage  of  discovery 
toward  Hutison  Bay  (1661),  105; 
traverses  Lake  Superior,  111-112; 
builds  fort  and  winters  west  of  pres- 
ent Duluth,  113-116;  visits  the 
Sioux,  123-124;  reaches  Lake 
Winnipeg,  127;  returns  to  Quebec 
(1663),  129;  bad  treatment  by 
French  officials,  130;  goes  to  France 
to  gain  his  rights,  1 33-1 34;  ill- 
treatment,  deception  by  Rochelle 
merchant,  dealings  with  Captain 
Gillam  of  Boston,  and  visit  to  Bos- 
ton (1665),  134-136;  goes  to  Eng- 
land, 137-138;  marriage  with  Mary 
Kirke,  138;  formation  of  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  (1670),  139-140; 
trading  voyage  to  Port  Nelson 
(1671),  140-141;  recalled  to  Eng- 
land and  poorly  treated  (1674- 
1675),  148;  receives  commission  in 
French  navy  (1675-1676),  148; 
complications  between  wife's  father 
and  French  government,  152; 
backed  by  La  Chesnaye,  engages  in 
new  expedition  to  Hudson  Bay, 
152-153;  returns  to  Quebec  (1681) 
and  sails  to  Hayes  River  (1682), 
153-158;  troubles  with  English 
and  Boston  ships,  161-175;  jealousy 
and  lawsuits  on  return  to  Quebec, 
^75~I77;  unsuccessfully  presses 
claims  in  France,  1 79-180;  com- 
missioned by  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, 181-182;  sails  to  Hayes 
River  and  takes  possession  of  Fort 
Bourbon  and  French  furs  (16S4), 
1 82-1 85;  return  to  England,  186- 
187;  annual  voyages  to  Hudson 
Bay  for  five  years,  188;   distrusted 


INDEX 


379 


on  breaking  out  of  war  with  France, 
and  neglect  in  old  age,  1 88- 1 89: 
consideration  of  character  and  ca- 
reer, 189-190. 

/?adisson's  Relation,  cited,  9  n.,  46  n., 
63  n.,  80  n.,  81  n.,  98  n.,  99  n.,  122, 
127,  163  n.,  179;  language  used  in, 
82;   time  of  writing,  13S. 

Ragueneau,  Father  Paul,  46  n.,  47,  48, 
50,  51,  52,  53,  59n.,  63n. 

Rascal  Village,  Indian  camp,  305. 

Red  River,  first  white  men  on,  219. 

Rhythm  as  an  Indian  characteristic, 
160  n. 

Ricaree  Indians,  insolence  of,  to  Lewis 
and  Clark,  311-312. 

Robson,  cited,  139,  140,  147,  161,  166. 

Rochelle,  Radisson's  visit  to,  in  1654, 

43- 

Rocky  Mountains,  Radisson's  nearest 
approach  to  the,  89;  Pierre  de  la 
Verendrye  reaches  the,  233;  Lewis's 
first  view  of  the,  314-315;  Lewis 
and  Clark  enter  Gates  of  the,  321. 

Rouen,  merchants  of,  interested  in 
Canada  trade,  352,  353,  357. 

Roy,  J.  Edmond,  cited,  102  n. 

Roy,    R.,   translations    of   documents, 

335- 
Rupert  River,  the  Nemisco  renamed 
the,  139. 


Sacajawea,  squaw  guide  to  Lewis  and 

Clark,  312,  321,  326,  332. 
St.    Louis,    departure    of    Lewis   and 

Clark's  expedition  from,  308-309  ; 

return  to,  332. 
Saint-Lusson,  Sieur  de,  142. 
Saint-Pierre,  Legardeur  de,  236-237. 
Saskatchewan    River,  exploration    of, 

229. 
Sautaux    Indians,  the,   89-90,   92   n., 

131  n.,  365. 


Scalp  dance,  the,  12,  14. 

Seneca  Indians,  the,  34,  55,  364. 

Sioux  Indians,  the,  69;  Radisson  and 
the,  85,  88,  120-124;  desire  of,  for 
firearms,  120,  122  ;    location  of  the, 

365. 
Skull-crackers,    Indian,    defined,    25, 

121. 
Slave  Lake,  Mackenzie  on,  282. 
Slave  Lake  Indians,  the,  280,  2S2,  290. 
Smith,    Donald    (Lord    Strathcoma), 

275-276. 
Snake  Indians,  Lewis  and  Clark  make 

friends  with,  323-326. 
Society  of  One  Hundred.     See  Com- 
pany of  One  Hundred  Associates. 
Songs,  Indian,  159,  160. 
Sturgeons,  Radisson's  river  of,  1 12. 
Suite,  Benjamin,  cited,  4,  5  n.,  6  n., 

7  n.,  19  n.,  43  n.,  68  n.,  76  n.,  86  n., 

99  n.,  102  n.,  139  n.,  54  n. 


Tadoussac    (Quebec),    Company    of, 

352.  _ 
Talon,  intendant  of  New  France,  7  n., 

^  142-143.  357-358.  360,  367.  368. 
Tanguay,  Abbe,  5  n.,  19  n.  88  n. 
Tar  bed,  Mackenzie's  discovery  of  a, 

in  the  Arctic,  286. 
Temiscamingue  Indians,  the,  364. 
Thousand  Islands,  massacre  of  Huron 

captives  by  Iroquois  at,  53-54. 
Three  Forks  of  the  Missouri,  Lewis 

and  Clark  arrive  at,  321. 
Three  Rivers,  population  of,  7  n.;   in 

1654,  44-45;   De  la  Verendrye  born 

at,  201  ;    Indians  of,  363. 
Touret,  Eli  Godefroy,  French  spy,  137. 
Torture,    Indian   methods   of,    15-16, 

25-28,  54. 
Travaille,  defined,  224. 
Tripe  de  roches,  defined,  78. 


38o 


INDEX 


V 

Verendrye.     See  De  la  Verendrye. 

Ville-Marie  (Montreal),  Indian  tribes 
about,  363-364. 

Voorhis,  Mrs.  Julia  Clark,  Clark  let- 
ters owned  by,  312  n. 

W 

^Yampum,  significance  to  Indians,  17. 
War-cry,  Indian,  sounds  representing 

the,   II  n. 
Waste,  viewed  by  Indians  as  crime,  60. 
West  Indies  Company.     See  Company 

of  the  West  Indies. 
Windsor,     member     of     Lewis     and 

Clark's  expedition,  315-316. 


Winnipeg,     Lake,    first     reports     of, 

69,   71 ;    Radisson   arrives    at,    127; 

rumours   of  a  tide  on,  216;    De  la 

Verendrye  on,  216-218. 
Wisconsin,  Radisson's  travels  in,  80- 

81,  89. 
Wolf  Indians  located  at  Three  Rivers, 

363. 
Wyandotte  Indians,  the,  364. 


Yellowstone  River,  exploration  of,  by 
Lewis  and  Clark,  313,  329. 

York  (Port  Nelson),  140,  161-175, 
182-186. 

Young,  Sir  William,  champions  Rad- 
isson's cause,  180,  181,  188. 


6- 


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